Millions of people across the country have woken up to a slew of painful household bill rises - heralding the start of what is commonly known as “awful April”.
Charities are warning that hikes to council tax, water, broadband and mobile phone costs are threatening to stretch many households to breaking point.
Citizens Advice chief executive Dame Clare Moriarty said: “Many households never saw the back of the last cost-of-living crisis, with millions of people still unable to make ends meet.
“With key bills such as council tax and water rising from April and global instability threatening further price shocks, we’re concerned about those who have exhausted every option to keep pace.”
Here, the Standard takes a look at how bill changes are impacting Londoners. And in some ways, the situation isn’t as bleak as previous Aprils.
Council tax
Across England, the average Band D council tax in 2026/27 will be £2,392 - an increase of £111 or 4.9% on 2025-26.
Single-person households qualify for a 25% discount, full-time students can be fully exempt, and those on low incomes can apply for a reduction of up to 100%. Carers and people with disabilities may also qualify. Discounts are not applied automatically, so households need to contact their council to claim.
Households can also contact their local authority to review their bill or spread payments over more months to help manage costs.
Water
Household water bills across England and Wales are rising by an average of 5.4%, equating to £33 a year for the average household.
Thankfully for Londoners however, Thames Water bills are rising by an average of just 0.4% (an extra £3, taking average bills to £658).
However this follows an eye-watering 31% rise in 2025/26, which added more than £200 to annual bills for millions.
Broadband and mobile phone
BT, EE, Plusnet and Virgin Media are all hiking broadband prices by £4 a month, Sky by £3, and Vodafone by £3.50 - adding nearly £50 more per year to bills.
Additionally, one in four broadband customers are out of contract, paying up to £9 per month more than those in contract.
Those out of contract are free to leave and find a better deal. If you want to stay with your current provider, make contact and ask them what they can offer on a lower price.
Totally Money said “millions” of people are out of contract with their mobile phone provider, and so also free to leave and find a better deal - with some SIM only deals available for less than £5 a month.
Mobile phone customers can text ‘INFO’ to 85075 to find out if they are still in contract. If not, shop around.
Energy
In some - albeit temporary - good news, the price most households pay for energy will fall by 7% from April 1.
Ofgem’s price cap will drop from the current £1,758 to £1,641 - a reduction of £117 or around £10 a month for the average household using both electricity and gas.
However, the reduction is lower than the average £150 cut to bills pledged by the Chancellor in November, when she moved 75% of the cost of the renewables obligation from household bills onto general taxation and scrapped the energy company obligation (Eco) scheme.
And of increasing concern is the amount energy bills could rise by from July as a result of the Middle East conflict, with latest predictions suggesting this could be by £288 a year.
The estimated 22 million households still languishing on their supplier’s Standard Variable Rate are paying the maximum allowed by the regulator. Now is the time for these households to investigate signing up to a fixed deal.
Minimum wage
Around 2.7 million people are getting a pay rise this week with the national minimum wage going up by 50p to £12.71 for over 21s.
Workers aged 18-20 will see an 85p rise to £10.85, with under-18s and apprentices getting 45p more to £8 an hour.
The rate is voluntary but is paid by about 4,000 firms in the capital – including half of the FTSE 100 companies - to ensure all staff aged 18 or older earn a basic minimum that keeps pace with the cost of living.
The new rate is up 95p an hour on the 2024/25 rate of £13.85 – an inflation-busting increase of 6.9%.
Businesses
For businesses, particularly smaller companies, it really is a bleak day. Many of their major costs, including business rates and minimum wage levels, are up from April 1, and several others, such as energy bills and fuel, are already far higher and still heading north.
Across the UK as a whole business rate receipts are due to rise £3.4 billion, or about 10%, to £37.1 billion from Wednesday, according to estimates from tax firm Ryan.
The increases will fall particularly heavily on hospitality, a sector that is seeing much of the support it received during the pandemic effectively taken away through new far higher rateable values that are now in force.
New above-inflation minimum wage rate hikes also come into force today. While they will benefit 2.7 million workers they will fall as an extra burden on employers.
For workers aged 21 or over the hourly rate goes up by 4.1% to £12, while for 18 to 20-year-olds it will increase by 8.5% to £10.85.
Meanwhile UK small businesses say that the hike in energy prices following the war in the Middle East will cost them an average of £2,273.90 a month, according to new research from Novuna Business Finance.
