BBC licence fee: will the price go up in 2025 - and how much could it increase by?

• The BBC agreed a funding deal with the previous government through to 2028.
• It includes annual price rises between 2024 and 2028 after a two year freeze.
• The cost increased by more than £10 earlier this year - rising to £169.50.

The BBC is likely to increase yet again next year, based on the current funding agreement. Prices rose in April 2024 after they had been frozen for two years during the cost-of-living crisis.

Sir Keir Starmer has ruled out changing the way the Beeb is funded until at least 2027. It means that prior agreements on the licence fee agreed with the previous government will remain in place.

So you will likely have to fork out more money for the licence fee from April next year. However the government is reportedly planning to end criminal prosecutions for licence fee evasion.

Nearly a 1,000 people are prosecuted each week, with 75% of them being women. But there are some exemptions in place - and you may not realise you are eligible for them.

Will the price of the BBC licence fee go up in 2025?

Unfortunately, you can likely expect the licence fee to see yet another increase next year. The price rose by £10 to £169.50 in April 2024 - and it will probably go up again in a few months' time.

In the last agreement signed between the BBC and the Conservative government, hands were shaken on a six year deal from 2022 to 2028. It saw funding for the fee frozen for two years from 2022 to 2024, with prices set to rise annually for the final four years of the deal.

So the price saw a jump from £159 to £169.50 in April 2024 and you can likely expect prices to go up at the same time in 2025.

How much could the licence fee increase by next year?

As previously mentioned, the cost of the fee increased by more than £10 after a two year price freeze this year. It was a rise of 6.6% in line with inflation - andBBC reportsthat as part of its agreement with the previous Conservative government the annual rises between 2024 and 2028 will also follow inflation.

Prime Minister Keir Starmer has ruled out any changes to how the licence fee is funded until at least 2027, which means you can expect the current agreement to continue as expected. Sir Keir said: “There’s going to be some more thought between now and [2027], but we are committed to the BBC and we are committed to the licensing arrangements."

An announcement on how much the TV licence will cost from April 2025 will come in due course. Likely expect it early in the new year.

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