Water, energy and phones: What you can do about the seven bills going up this week

The start of April means several bills are going up, putting extra pressure on household finances.

For some payments, such as energy, water or broadband, there are things you could do to reduce the impact of price rises.

Here are seven ways you could be affected by this week’s increases.

Water bills for households in England and Wales are going up by £10 per month on average.

However, there’s a lot of variation depending on your supplier.

For example, the annual Southern Water bill will jump 47% to £703, while Anglian Water customers will pay 19% more, or £626.

The increases are being front-loaded for the next five years, meaning the biggest rise is coming this year.

Factors including whether households have a meter and how much water is used also affect bills.

Water companies in England and Wales have said the increases are needed to invest in creaking infrastructure, including sewage, and to build more reservoirs.

In Scotland, water bills are rising by almost 10%. Scottish Water said spending was needed to cope with periods of “drought and intense rainfall” brought on by climate change.

Domestic customers in Northern Ireland are not billed for water.

Read more: How you can save money by reducing your water usage.

The annual energy bill for a household using a typical amount of gas and electricity is going up by £111 a year to £1,849 from April.

Regulator Ofgem increased the energy price cap because of higher wholesale costs and inflation.

The cap is set every three months and limits the amount suppliers can charge for each unit of gas and electricity, but not the total bill, so if you use more, you will pay more.

It affects 22 million homes in England, Wales and Scotland.

Standing charges – fixed fees to connect to a gas and electricity supply and vary by region – are rising again for gas but dropping for electricity, but it depends on where you live.

Ofgem is suggesting households consider a fixed tariff for a bit of stability.

Read more: How can I save money on my energy bill and should I fix?

It is likely the tax you pay to your local authority is going up.

In England, local authorities with responsibility for delivering social care can increase council tax every year by up to 4.99% without triggering a referendum or local vote.

Smaller councils without social care duties can increase bills by up to 2.99%.

For 2025-26, the government is allowing Birmingham, Bradford, Newham, Somerset, Trafford, and Windsor and Maidenhead to bypass the 4.99% cap, meaning they could raise council tax by more.

Council tax rates in Scotland have been frozen or had limited increases since 2007, but they are are going up, in some cases by as much as 10%.

The Scottish government says it is offering local authorities an extra £1bn in 2025-26 to help reduce the scale of any rise.

In Wales, council tax rates could jump by as much 15% in some areas. Local authorities were given £253m by the Welsh government in its draft budget, but council leaders say more money needed.

Northern Ireland uses a domestic rates system instead of council tax. All of Northern Ireland’s councils have reported district rate increases for the next year.

Read more: How to check your council tax band, and whether you are entitled to any discounts.

House buyers in England and Northern Ireland will start paying stamp duty on properties over £125,000, instead of over £250,000.

First-time buyers currently had paid no stamp duty on homes up to £425,000, but this is dropping to £300,000.

A host of homebuyers had been trying to beat the deadline or face paying more.

Read more: How much is stamp duty and who needs to pay it?

Rule changes introduced by the telecoms regulator this year mean that mobile and broadband providers must now tell customers “in pounds and pence” about any price rises, as well as when they occur.

The new rules typically only apply to new customers, so any price rise will depend on when you took your contract out, but prices ususally increase around now.

For instance, under the new rules, someone with a mobile Sim only contract with EE will see their bill go up by £1.50 a month, or £18 a year.

But for the majority of EE customers who took their contract out before 10 April 2024, they will face an increase of 6.4%, which is based on the inflation rate last December together with an additional charge.

Similarly, most Virgin Media broadband customers will face a 7.5% rise in bills, but for anyone who took out a contract after 9 January this year, their monthly bill will go up by £3.50.

The cost of a TV licence is also going up by £5 to £174.50, and for a black and white TV is going up by £1.50 to £58.50.

The standard rate of tax for cars registered after April 2017 is rising £5 to £195 a year. According to the RAC, you may pay less or more if your car was first used before 2017.

The exact amount for your road tax will depend on the year your car was registered and the type of fuel it uses.

One big change is that electric vehicles (EVs) will no longer be tax exempt. EVs registered from April 2025 will pay the lowest rate of £10 in the first year, then move to the standard rate. The standard rate will also apply to EVs first registered after April 2017.

The government has kept in place the freeze on tax thresholds on income tax and National Insurance until 2028, a policy brought in by the previous government.

This is often dubbed a stealth tax – as governments don’t explicitly label it as a tax.

But the policy amounts to a tax rise because of a process called “fiscal drag”, which sees more people “dragged” into paying higher rates of tax as wages rises.

The new tax year begins on 6 April.

According to figures from the government’s financial watchdog by 2028-29, nearly four million additional people will be expected to pay income tax – and three million more will have moved to the higher rate – due to the threshold being frozen.

Read more: How much National Insurance and income tax do you have to pay?

Reporting by Tom Espiner, Vishala Sri-Pathma, Faarea Masud, Shanaz Musafer, Mitch Labiak, Tommy Lumby and Kevin Peachey