Savers are crystal clear on Budget demands: unfreeze the personal allowance and give us more flexibility
London, 16 September 2026: Savers are clear about what they want from John Healey's first Autumn Budget on 28 October, a new PensionBee survey reveals, with increasing the annual pension allowance, scrapping the planned inheritance tax changes to pensions, and unfreezing the personal allowance topping the list.
Released during Pensions Awareness Week, the findings show that savers are engaged with the upcoming Budget and have firm views on what it should deliver for retirement saving.
When asked what pension change they would most like to see, increasing the annual pension allowance came top at 39%, ahead of delaying or scrapping the inheritance tax changes to pensions at 23%. The personal allowance freeze emerged as the most clear-cut issue: 69% said the government should unfreeze it to prevent more pensioners being dragged into higher rate income tax, with 43% saying this should happen immediately. Yet one in five respondents said they did not know what the personal allowance was, underlining how far the debate around pension taxation has in cases outpaced public understanding.
The survey also reveals a strong appetite for greater flexibility. More people said they would save more into a pension if they had greater control over when and how they could access it, as compared to citing higher employer contributions or tax relief, suggesting that access to their savings matters as much as the financial incentives to save.
Against this backdrop, anxiety as to the government's next move is running high. 57% said they were not confident the government would protect their pension savings, and 38% expected the Budget to make retirement saving harder for ordinary people, against only 10% who expect it to become easier.
Becky O'Connor, Head of Pensions at PensionBee, commented:
“Savers know what they want from this Budget: more room to save, protection from the creeping tax burden on retirement income, and certainty that the rules will not keep changing on them. The demand for flexibility is particularly telling. More people said they would save more if they had greater control over access, rather than citing higher employer contributions or tax relief.
“Without certainty over the benefits pensions provide, there is a real risk they lose their appeal, and the consequences of that for individuals and for society could be significant.
Whatever John Healey decides on 28 October, he is starting from a position of low trust when it comes to pensions given. A clear, early signal on the tax-free lump sum as a starting point would cost nothing and could go a long way to restoring faith.”
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