Derbyshire Dales has highest ISA balance in Halifax’s latest ISA Savings Map

The UK average cash ISA balance is £7,836 but the Derbyshire Dales is leading the way with the highest average ISA balance of £10,478, some 34% above the rest, research shows.

While the lowest average ISA balances are in the London boroughs of Hackney at just £4,760, 39% below the UK average, and Southwark at £5,260, the research from the Halifax also shows.

Almost three quarters of the top 30 local authorities with the highest Cash ISA balances are in Greater London and the South East and male savers in Ashfield in the East Midlands have balances 13% higher than women while women in Cambridge Have Balances 16% higher than men.

The research also found that East Anglia has the highest regional balance at £8,406 and the 75 plus age group has the highest average ISA balance of £13,689. The Western Isles in Scotland have the second highest differential at 10%, £7,133 compared to £6,438.

The highest male balances are in Derbyshire Dales at £10,317, followed by South Bucks, £10,303 and the Chilterns at £10,264. The lowest are in Hackney, £4,595, Glasgow City, £5,161, and Newham, £5,215.

In four area women have an average balance at least 10% above men, in Cambridge £8,974 versus £7,759, Westminster £8,294 versus £7,336, Newham £5,749 versus £5,215, and Oxford £8,599 versus £7,843.

On a regional basis, Greater London and Scotland are the only areas where females have higher balances than men. In Greater London, female savers are 3% above, £8,137 versus £7,874, but this falls to only 1% in Scotland at £6,498 versus £6,436.

The highest female balances are also in Derbyshire Dales at £10,517, followed by Harrow £10,446 and South Bucks £10,318. The lowest is in Hackney at £4,815, followed by Southwark £5,119 and West Lothian £5,295.

At £8,406, 7% above the UK average, East Anglia has the highest regional balance. This is followed by the East Midlands at £8,364 and the South East at £8,345. Overall, Scotland had the lowest average balance at £6,515, 17% below the UK average, followed by the South West at £7,686.

‘Despite the majority of the large cash ISA balances being held in London and the South East it is Derbyshire Dales in the East Midlands that has the highest average balance of all at £10,478. However, this only equates to just over twice the annual ISA limit and falls to as low as one and a half times at a national level,’ said Flavia Palacios Umana, head of Halifax savings products.

‘Many savers are still not making the most of their savings by using their full annual ISA allowance, which will earn them interest free of tax,’ she added.