That are plenty of changes coming into force in April that will likely impact your finances (Image: SHUMYTSKAYA OLGA) Sign up to our free email newsletter to receive the latest
BREAKING news and daily roundups More Newsletters Subscribe Please enter a valid email Something went wrong, please try again later. More Newsletters We use your sign-up to provide content in ways you’ve consented to and improve our understanding of you. This may include adverts from us and third parties based on our knowledge of you. More info Thank you for subscribing! We have more newsletters Show me See Our Privacy Notice See Our Privacy Notice × Group 28 Sign up to our free email newsletter to receive the latest breaking news and daily roundups Invalid email Something went wrong, please try again later. Sign Up No thanks, close We use your sign-up to provide content in ways you’ve consented to and improve our understanding of you. This may include adverts from us and third parties based on our knowledge of you. More info × Group 28 Thank you for subscribing! We have more newsletters Show Me No thanks, close See our Privacy Notice A huge number of changes that will affect your finances will be taking place throughout April. From uprated benefits and wage increases to new laws, price hikes and tax changes, there's a lot to keep track of. That's why we've broken down some of the major changes taking place as the new financial year gets underway. Plenty of household bills are set to rise, including council tax and broadband prices - but not energy bills, which are finally coming down thanks to lower wholesale energy prices. Increases to the minimum wage and a cut in the National Insurance rate will see millions of workers take home a bigger pay check. People who claim benefits from HMRC and the DWP will see higher rates next month, reports Manchester Evening News . Read more: Sainsbury's, Aldi and Morrisons issue 'do not eat' warnings on some foods Read more: Death and funeral announcements in Cambridgeshire this week In addition, more parents will be able to get Child Benefit thanks to changes introduced in the Spring Budget . Products and services such as stamps, passports and dental fees will see some steep increases, while motorists could find themselves paying more tax on their vehicles. On top of all of that, there are some changes to the law that will impact employees, people in social housing, people with pensions, immigrants and homeowners. Below we've rounded up the bills and services that are going up in price, the changes that could boost your income and the law changes you should be aware of. Council Tax The average annual council tax bill will rise by £106 this year as local authorities seek to maximise revenue to pay for struggling frontline services. The bill for an average Band D property will increase by five per cent to £2,171, with all of the 153 upper-tier councils applying some or all of the social care precept of two per cent, according to statistics released by the Department for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities. This means the overall council requirement in
England is £41.2 billion, an increase of £2.5 billion on 2023/24, while average annual bills have risen by 20 per cent since 2020/21. Mobile, TV and broadband increase Many mobile, TV, and broadband companies will introduce mid-contract price hikes from April 1. Each spring, firms raise their prices either in line with the Consumer Price Index (CPI) or the Retail Price Index (RPI) plus an additional three per cent, 3.7 per cent or 3.9 per cent. That means some customers will be seeing hikes of as much as 8.8 per cent this year. Water bills The average household water and sewerage bills will go up by six per cent in England and Wales - an increase of around £27 to £473 a year. Wessex Water and Anglian Water will be seeing the highest increases, with average yearly bills expected to be £548 and £529 respectively. United Utilities, the supplier of water in the north west, said the expected average household water bill from April 1 for 2024/25 will be £481, an increase of 7.9 per cent compared to the 2023/24 charges. Meanwhile, Northumbrian customers will see the lowest increase on average at £442 for the year. Ofwat chief executive David Black said: "While water bills will vary depending on the circumstances of each household, the average increase forecasted for 2024/25 will be £27.40, equivalent to about £2.30 a month. We are very aware, for those who are already struggling, this will be a real worry." Vehicle Excise Duty An increase in Vehicle Excise Duty (VED) rates - or car tax as many call it - for cars, vans and motorcycles is set to be implemented from April 1. VED will rise in line with inflation based on the Retail Price Index (RPI) - an increase of roughly six per cent. Increases in cost in the new tax year will vary depending on the type of vehicle you have. Those with older petrol and diesel cars will likely see less drastic rises than those with newer vehicles with higher CO2 levels, who could see a price rise of as much as £140 for the year. Andy Wood, a tax expert from Tax Natives, explained: "The amount of tax one pays is determined by the pollution output of the vehicle. Simply put, cars emitting more pollutants are subjected to higher VED rates. This means that those who drive petrol and diesel cars that produce higher contaminants will be affected more by these tax increases, as their vehicles have a more significant environmental impact." TV Licence Currently, a TV Licence costs £159 a year but this is due to increase by £10.50 in April to £169.50. The increase of 6.7 per cent was reduced from an expected nine per cent which would have averaged at around £15 more per year for customers. This is the first TV licence increase since April 2022 after fee rises were temporarily frozen. The announcement was made in December 2023 by Culture Secretary Lucy Frazer where she told the House of Commons the increase will instead be based on September's consumer prices index (CPI) rate of inflation which was 6.7 per cent. Stamps and postage Royal Mail will hike the price of stamps from April 2. First-class stamps will go up 10p from £1.25 to £1.35 and second-class stamps will go up by 10p to 85p. A year ago, a first-class stamp cost 95p before being hiked to £1.10 in April 2023, ahead of another 15p increase in October last year. Passports The Home Office recently confirmed that the cost of online applications for passports will rise in April. People aged 16 or over applying for a passport from within the
UK will have to pay £88.50 - up from £82.50. The price of a passport for children under the age of 16 will go up from £53.50 to £57.50. Standard paper applications when someone applies from overseas will also go up in price - to £112.50 for adults and £77 for children. The changes are set to be implemented from April 11. with the Home Office saying the government does not make any profit from the cost of passport applications. Dental fees The price of a routine check-up at an NHS dentist will go up by £1 to £26.80 from April 1, while dental treatments such as fillings will increase by £2.80 to £73.50. Higher treatments like bridges, crowns, and dentures will increase by £12.30 to £319.10. Increase to benefit and pension payments People who get benefits will see a boost to their payments from April. Benefits paid by the Department of Work and Pensions (DWP) will see a rise of 6.7 per cent, in line with inflation, which will come into effect from April 8. However, you may not see the new rate reflected in your payments until the following month due to the way benefits are paid. Meanwhile, the basic and new state pensions will receive an increase of 8.5 per cent in April. This is in line with the earnings growth measured as part of the pensions triple lock which will remain in place this year. Housing benefits and council tax reductions will also see new rates and allowances, which will come into effect from April 1, the same week many people will see changes to their rent. Benefits set to see an increase in April include: Working Tax Credit - including childcare element Child Tax Credit Child Benefit Guardian's Allowance Personal Independence Payment (PIP) Disability Living Allowance Attendance Allowance Incapacity Benefit Severe Disablement Allowance Industrial Injuries Benefit Carer's Allowance Additional State Pension Universal Credit Minimum wage increase The government confirmed that the National Minimum Wage and National Living Wage will shoot up by around 10 per cent in April. Meanwhile, workers aged 21 and 22 will be roped into the higher National Living Wage for the first time ever, taking the lowest full-time adult worker's wage to £22,308 a year. The changes will mark the largest cash increase seen by the minimum wage and the first time it has gone up by more than £1, according to the independent Low Pay Commission (LPC) which advises the government on the rate. Minimum wage rates from April 1: National Living Wage for those aged 21 and over - £11.44 National Minimum Wage for people aged 18 to 20 - £8.60 National Minimum Wage for people aged under 18 - £6.40 National Minimum Wage for apprentices - £6.40 National Insurance cut Millions of workers will get to take home more of their pay when the National Insurance rate is cut from 10 per cent to eight per cent on April 6. The rate of National Insurance for the self-employed is being cut from eight per cent to six per cent from the same date. The chancellor said the move will be worth about £450 a year to an employee earning an average salary of £35,000. When combined with the reduction he announced last autumn, the measure would be worth an average of £900 for 27 million employees, he said, while two million self-employed would see an average cut of £650. Energy price cap coming down The Ofgem energy price cap will fall from £1,928 to £1,690. However, the energy price cap is not a cap on how much customers pay per year, but a cap on the unit price that energy companies can charge, meaning bills will vary depending on usage. But the cut to the current price cap means the average household energy bill will fall to its lowest point in two years from April. The price cap is coming down by 12.3 per cent for a typical dual fuel household in England,
Scotland and Wales - a drop of £238 over the course of a year or around £20 a month. Childcare and Child Benefit changes Last year, the government announced a huge shake-up to free childcare provisions in England and Wales. By September 2025, most working families with children under the age of five will be entitled to 30 hours of childcare support. All three and four-year-olds are currently entitled to 15 hours per week of free childcare, rising to 30 hours for working families. There are 15 hours available for disadvantaged two-year-olds. But from April 1, working parents of two-year-olds will be able to access 15 hours of free childcare for the first time. Later in the year, from September 2024, 15 hours of free childcare will be extended down to the age of nine months for working parents, with registration set to open in May. There are also big changes coming to Child Benefit eligibility next month, meaning more parents will get the full amount. From April 6, around 170,000 families will be taken out of paying the high income tax charge when the threshold at which the charge starts will increase from £50,000 to £60,000. The rate at which the fee is charged will also be halved from one per cent of the child benefit payment for every additional £100 earned above the threshold, to one per cent for every £200. This means that child benefit will not be withdrawn in full until a parent is earning £80,000 or more. New employment laws From April 6, workers will be given the right to request flexible working from their employer from day one of their
Job. Staff who have worked for their employer for 26 weeks or more currently have the right to ask if they can work flexibly - but this will become a right that applies from the first day of employment when the new law comes in. Meanwhile, also from April 6, the Carer's Leave Act will give unpaid carers the right to take additional unpaid leave from work to help balance caring responsibilities, and new mothers and mothers-to-be will be protected against redundancy for longer. Lifetime allowance abolished A major shake up to the way that pensions are taxed will come into force from April 6, affecting anyone saving up money for their retirement. The lifetime allowance - the cap at which pension savings start incurring a tax charge - will be removed. Back in February a bill was approved that scraps the lifetime allowance, which had made the first £1,073,100 in pension savings tax-free, while a high tax rate of 55 per cent was added to everything withdrawn over that limit. Treasury minister Nigel Huddleston said measures put in place by the Bill would "encourage people to stay in work and utilise their expertise for longer", with the Office for Budget Responsibility estimating that the abolishment of the lifetime allowance would retain 15,000 workers annually. The lifetime allowance will be replaced by two new taxes on lump sum withdrawals. The Lump Sum Allowance (LSA) and the Lump Sum and Death Benefit Allowance (LSDBA) will allow people to withdraw up to a quarter of the current lifetime allowance, £268,275, in lump sums from their pension scheme before they are taxed on their withdrawals. Changes to
immigration rules The government is introducing new legislation in a bid to cut net migration. From April 4, the minimum salary required for those arriving on the Skilled Worker visa will increase from £26,200 to £38,700 a 48 per cent increase. The minimum income requirement for family visas will also rise, initially to £29,000 from April 11, but by early 2025 this will be increased to £38,700. It comes after new restrictions were brought in on March 11, which restricted foreign care workers bringing relatives with them to the UK and requiring care providers to register with the Care Quality Commission if they are sponsoring migrants. New council tax rules for empty properties A new rule that doubles council tax on long-term empty properties will come into force on April 1, the Department for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities announced. It's hoped the new rule will help to free up long-term empty properties for local families and young people, who are being shut out of the housing market. A small number of exceptions will be applied which the government says will make the changes fairer for homeowners. For example, exceptions may apply if a home is uninhabitable due to renovations or if it is not available for use year-round due to planning restrictions. Awaab's Law Changes to the law around social housing are coming into force following the tragic death of toddler Awaab Ishak in December 2020, who suffered a respiratory condition caused by prolonged exposure to mould at his housing association flat in Rochdale. From April 1, a change through the Social Housing Regulation Act will oblige landlords to listen to tenant complaints while treating them with fairness and respect. Landlords will also be required to fix reported hazards, such as mould, in a "timely fashion" or rehouse tenants in safe accommodation. Fiona MacGregor, RSH chief executive, said: "Social landlords must keep tenants safe in their homes, listen to what they say and put things right when needed. We are introducing new standards to drive improvements in social housing, and we will actively inspect landlords to check they are meeting them." Story Saved You can find this story in My Bookmarks. Or by navigating to the user icon in the top right. Follow CambridgeLive
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