Whether you live in a rented property, own it outright, or have a long-term mortgage, the one thing everyone has in common is the council tax payment.
Households in England will pay on average an extra £81 in council tax from April, in the steepest increases for 14 years, as cash-strapped local authorities struggle to fill gaping holes in their budgets caused by years of austerity.
According to reports, local authorities in the south-east of England, outside London and in the north east will have the biggest average band D council tax rise at £90 a year. The lowest average rise will be in Greater London, where bills will go up by £56.
Almost three-quarters of authorities are opting to raise general council tax by 2.99%, the maximum allowed without the need for a local referendum. If a council has social care responsibilities, then they can also raise the rate by an additional 3%.
That’s not the only area for concern this year as there are further increases ahead from mobile phone tariffs to interest rates.
Passport
It has been announced that the cost of a postal application for adult passports will increase from £72.50 to £85. This increase came into effect on March 27th, 2018.
TV licence
Although it’s a minimal increase, the cost of your TV Licence is to rise for the second year in a row from £147 to £150.50, after jumping £1.50 last year.
NHS prescription
The government announced that NHS prescription charges are increasing to £8.80 from April. It’s an increase of 2.3%, rising from the £8.60 patients currently pay in England. However, a prepayment plan for prescriptions in advance will be the same cost, remaining at £29.10 for three months and £104 for a year.
Fortunately, there are some benefits coming to the 18/19 tax year such as the basic personal allowance increasing from £11,500 to £11,850, plus the National Living Wage (25+) increasing from £7.50 p/h. to £7.83 p/h.
Although you will see some benefit from the increase, you should take steps to reduce your monthly expenditure such as switching any insurance policies that are due for renewal, especially for policies like home insurance.
When your home insurance is within 28 days of renewal, contact our home insurance team who will be able to find the right policy for you, potentially saving you hundreds of pounds.
