Household Bills
Cost of TV licence to increase from April
The cost of the annual television licence will increase from £154.50 to £157.50 from 1 April 2020, the government has confirmed.
Licence fee payers will receive a reminder or a payment plan reflecting the new amount when their licence is next due for renewal.
People buying or renewing a licence before 1 April 2020 will pay the old fee until their licence comes up for renewal.
An annual black and white licence will rise from £52.00 to £53.00.
The government is responsible for setting the level of the licence fee and announced in 2016 it would rise in line with inflation for five years from 1 April 2017.
The fee hike will come into force just months before the BBC scraps free TV licences for the majority of over-75s.
From June, only people aged 75 and over receiving pension credit will be eligible for a free TV licence.
Anyone watching or recording TV programmes, or watching or downloading BBC programmes on iPlayer, needs to be covered by a licence. This applies whether they are using a TV set, computer, or any other device.
