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Child Trust Funds: 827,000 matured accounts only their owner can move

ended 18. September 2026

HMRC's Annual savings statistics 2026, published 16 September 2026, count around 827,000 matured Child Trust Funds still continuing as CTF accounts at 5 April 2026. A year earlier it was around 758,000, the “more than 750,000” the Treasury still cited in June when it convened a Child Trust Fund Taskforce. As a share of all matured accounts the number waiting fell; the count grew because more matured in the year than were claimed or moved. The count predates HMRC's April announcement of letters to 21-year-olds with unclaimed accounts. Holders of matured accounts are aged 18 to 24.

The catch is who can act. At 18 the young adult takes over, no new money can be paid in, nobody else has access until they withdraw or transfer it, it stays tax-free, and a move into an adult ISA does not count towards the overall ISA limit. The accounts still waiting are also smaller, averaging £2,310 at 5 April 2026 against £3,596 for those claimed or automatically transferred to an ISA during 2025 to 2026.

  1. Is a rising count a failure to get the money claimed, or, as the Treasury itself allows, money some holders have chosen to leave invested for now?
  2. Which client does this catch, the first-time buyer whose deposit may already be sitting in one or the parent who opened it and now has no say over it, and is it fair that only the holder can act?
  3. Have you had a client with a matured Child Trust Fund, and what did they do with it? Please give as much detail as you can.

4 responses from the Newspage community

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Scott GallacherVerified
Director at Rowley Turton
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The mess of matured Child Trust Funds is another example of poor policymaking, followed by further government meddling and a failure to tidy up afterwards.

The original idea of a government already running a deficit borrowing money to give every child £250, or £500 in some cases, to save or invest was questionable from the outset. Eventually the payments stopped, Child Trust Funds were abandoned for new children and Junior ISAs became the preferred vehicle.

But rather than properly rationalising the system, for example by automatically converting legacy CTFs into Junior ISAs, we were left with two parallel regimes and the administrative mess that followed.

Now 827,000 matured CTFs remain, many belonging to young adults who may barely know they exist. The sums may individually be modest, but collectively this is a problem that has been allowed to linger for far too long.
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Martin RaynerVerified
Financial Adviser at Compton Financial Services
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The rising number is not quite the problem it first appears. More Child Trust Funds are maturing, while the percentage left untouched is actually falling. We should expect the headline number to remain high while these larger groups continue reaching 18.

The bigger issue is what happens to the money. This was always the child's cash. From 16 they can take over management and at 18 they have complete control. Mum and Dad might have paid into it for years, but they cannot stop an 18-year-old saving it, investing it or blowing the lot.

Interestingly, we do not see first-time buyers turning up with Child Trust Funds for their deposit. Our average first-time buyer is around 28, a full decade after the money becomes accessible. By then it may have been spent, moved elsewhere or simply forgotten.

That is perhaps the missed opportunity. A couple of thousand pounds at 18 is tempting spending money. Kept until 28, it could be a useful chunk of a house deposit.
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Tony SanchezVerified
Founder at Bridging Loan Directory
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My youngest son has a Child Trust Fund and has chosen to leave it invested. In his case, money remaining in the account does not mean it has been forgotten or that something has gone wrong.

That is why I would be careful about treating every matured account as money waiting to be rescued. There is a difference between someone who does not know an account exists, someone struggling to access it and someone deliberately leaving it invested.

Helping young adults find their money matters. But withdrawing it is not the only sign that they know it is there.
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Nouran MoustafaVerified
Practice Principal & IFA at Roxton Wealth
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Calling all 827,000 accounts “forgotten money” is too simplistic. Some young adults will genuinely have lost track of their Child Trust Fund, but others may know exactly where it is and have consciously left it invested.

The £2,310 average balance is still meaningful. For an 18-year-old that could be part of a first-home deposit, education costs or the beginning of a longer-term investment portfolio. The problem is that financial education rarely arrives with the money.

I actually think it is right that at 18 the decision belongs to the young adult, not the parent. It is their asset. But transferring legal control overnight does not automatically transfer financial confidence.

The real failure would not be 827,000 accounts remaining invested. It would be 827,000 young adults not knowing they exist or understanding what they can do with them.