Help to Save: the government adds 50p to every £1 you save — £300m in bonuses paid out

HMRC published the running totals for Help to Save on 21 September 2026. The scheme is a savings account for people on a low income where the government tops up whatever you put away by half. Since it launched in September 2018, 656,700 accounts have been opened, savers have deposited £676.7m, and bonuses have now passed £300m.

One figure explains the rest: 94% of account holders pay in the maximum £50 a month. People who find the scheme use it to the limit. The problem is not the size of the bonus — it is that most eligible people still do not know it exists.

How much the government actually adds

You can pay in between £1 and £50 in any calendar month — £2,400 over four years. The bonus is 50p for every £1 saved, capped at £1,200. At the maximum that is an extra £25 a month, a return no savings account on the market comes close to.

The bonus is not paid monthly. It comes in two parts:

First bonus, at the end of year two. It is 50% of the highest balance your account reached in those first two years. Pay in £50 for 24 straight months and your highest balance is £1,200, so the bonus is £600.

Final bonus, at the end of year four. It is 50% of the difference between your highest balance in years three and four and your highest balance in years one and two. If your highest balance does not increase in the second half, there is no final bonus at all.

Bonuses are paid into your ordinary bank account, not back into the Help to Save account. No interest is paid on the balance — the bonus is the whole return.

Who can open an account

There is now a single condition: you are receiving Universal Credit and you (or you and your partner on a joint claim) had £1 or more of take-home pay in your last monthly assessment period — that is pay after tax and National Insurance.

That is much easier than it used to be. Until 6 April 2025 you had to be earning the equivalent of 16 hours a week at the National Living Wage. Scrapping that threshold made roughly 550,000 more people eligible.

If you claim Universal Credit as a couple, each partner applies for their own account — up to £2,400 of bonus per household over four years. You must be living in the UK, with exceptions for Crown servants and members of the armed forces abroad and their spouses.

If you stop claiming Universal Credit, you keep the account and it runs to the end of its four years.

The catch for people on a visa

Help to Save is tied to Universal Credit, and the Home Office classes Universal Credit as public funds. Most work, study and family visas carry a no recourse to public funds condition, which rules out a Universal Credit claim — and therefore a Help to Save account.

The scheme is realistically open to people without that restriction: indefinite leave to remain, EU Settlement Scheme status, refugee status or humanitarian protection, or British citizenship. If you are not sure what your permission says, the condition is set out in your visa decision and in your eVisa account.

Will it cut your Universal Credit?

No, not at these sums. Savings of £6,000 or less do not affect Universal Credit or Housing Benefit at all, and Help to Save bonuses are not counted as income for either.

The general rule still applies: capital above £6,000 starts to reduce Universal Credit and capital above £16,000 ends entitlement. The most Help to Save can hold is £2,400 plus a £1,200 bonus, so the scheme on its own stays inside those limits — but all your savings are counted together.

You can withdraw — but it costs you bonus

You can take money out at any time, free of charge, but only by transfer to your own bank account. Bonuses you have already earned are not clawed back. The trap is different: the bonus is calculated on your highest balance, and every withdrawal makes that harder to lift — especially in the second half, where the final bonus rewards growth only.

Close the account early and you lose your next bonus and cannot open another one. Four years after opening, the account closes by itself and the money and the final bonus are yours.

How to apply

You apply online at GOV.UK or through the HMRC app — nearly 24,000 people opened accounts through the app in the past year. You will need:

— your National Insurance number or postcode;
— two of the following: a valid UK passport, a UK photocard driving licence from the DVLA or DVA, details of a tax credits claim, details from a Self Assessment return in the last two years, or information from your credit record such as loans, credit cards or a mortgage;
— your UK bank details.

You can pay in by debit card, standing order or bank transfer. Saving every month is not compulsory: a missed month carries no penalty, it just reduces the eventual bonus.

What changes from 2028

The government has confirmed a reform of the scheme. From 2028 Help to Save moves to a multi-provider model: banks, building societies and credit unions will be able to offer the accounts directly rather than everything running through the government provider. At the same time the earnings condition will be dropped for people with caring responsibilities, opening the scheme to Universal Credit claimants more broadly — around 1.5 million more households.

Until then the current rules stand: Universal Credit, plus at least £1 of take-home pay in your last assessment period.