What your bills used to cost, year by year.
A clean series of what each household charge has actually been, with the date each figure took effect and the body that set it. Nobody keeps this across bills, because it only exists if you have logged every change as it happened. We have. Where a year cannot be verified from a primary source, it is left out and named, not filled with a guess.
Every charge, year by year
Each figure is the amount in force from the date beside it, and each table links the body that set it.
TV Licence, standard colour
The fee for a standard colour licence. Each rise takes effect on 1 April. It was frozen at £159 for two years to 2024. up 22% since 2017
| In force from | £ a year |
|---|---|
| 1 April 2017 | £147 |
| 1 April 2018 | £150.50 |
| 1 April 2019 | £154.50 |
| 1 April 2020 | £157.50 |
| 1 April 2021 | £159 |
| 1 April 2022 | £159 held |
| 1 April 2023 | £159 held |
| 1 April 2024 | £169.50 |
| 1 April 2025 | £174.50 |
| 1 April 2026 | £180 |
The Communications (Television Licensing) Amendment Regulations, on legislation.gov.uk →
NHS prescription, England
The charge for a single prescription item in England. Wales, Scotland and Northern Ireland charge nothing. Frozen at £9.90 since May 2024. up 21% since 2015
| In force from | £ an item |
|---|---|
| 1 April 2015 | £8.20 |
| 1 April 2016 | £8.40 |
| 1 April 2017 | £8.60 |
| 1 April 2018 | £8.80 |
| 1 April 2019 | £9 |
| 1 April 2020 | £9.15 |
| 1 April 2021 | £9.35 |
| 1 April 2022 | £9.35 held |
| 1 April 2023 | £9.65 |
| 1 May 2024 | £9.90 |
| 1 April 2025 | £9.90 held |
| 1 April 2026 | £9.90 held |
NHS Business Services Authority, historic prescription charges →
NHS dental, Band 1, England
A check up, examination, X rays, a scale and polish. The lowest of the three treatment bands. Free in the other three nations for some, charged differently across them. up 8% since 2023
| In force from | £ |
|---|---|
| 1 April 2023 | £25.80 |
| 1 April 2024 | £26.80 |
| 1 April 2025 | £27.40 |
| 1 April 2026 | £27.90 |
NHS dental, Band 3, England
The most complex band: crowns, dentures, bridges. The same course of treatment can differ by hundreds of pounds between bands, which is the thing worth knowing before a dentist quotes you. up 8% since 2023
| In force from | £ |
|---|---|
| 1 April 2023 | £306.80 |
| 1 April 2024 | £319.10 |
| 1 April 2025 | £326.70 |
| 1 April 2026 | £332.10 |
Regulated rail fares, annual cap
The cap on how far regulated fares, about half of all fares including most season tickets, may rise. It takes effect in early March. Frozen at zero for 2026, the first freeze in thirty years. a freeze at zero for 2026
| In force from | % rise |
|---|---|
| 1 March 2022 | 3.8% |
| 5 March 2023 | 5.9% |
| 3 March 2024 | 4.9% |
| 2 March 2025 | 4.6% |
| 2 March 2026 | 0% held |
Department for Transport and the Office of Rail and Road fares index →
Average water bill, England and Wales
The national average household bill for water and sewerage together, forecast for the year from 1 April, from Water UK. It is an average across metered and unmetered homes, so it is nobody's exact bill. See the average water bill page for why other sites quote less. up 43% since 2023
| In force from | £ a year |
|---|---|
| 1 April 2023 | £448 |
| 1 April 2025 | £603 |
| 1 April 2026 | £639 |
The energy price cap, which moves every quarter
The Ofgem default tariff cap moves every quarter, not once a year, so it does not sit in the table above. The full series for every region and quarter since 2019 is on the energy cap history API. These recent national figures are for a typical dual fuel household paying by direct debit.
| Cap period | Typical dual fuel, a year |
|---|---|
| 1 July to 30 September 2025 | £1,720 |
| 1 January to 31 March 2026 | £1,758 |
| 1 April to 30 June 2026 | £1,641 |
| 1 July to 30 September 2026 | £1,663 |
The years we left out, and why
A missing year means we could not verify it to the standard of the rest, not that nothing changed.
- TV Licence. 2015 and 2016, held at £145.50 under a freeze set back in 2010, are left out because the exact commencement of that frozen rate predates the run of amending regulations we read.
- Regulated rail fares. 2015 to 2021 are left out. Each year's cap sits in that year's Office of Rail and Road fares index, which we could not read cleanly enough to quote to the tenth of a per cent.
- Average water bill. 2024/25 is left out because the sources disagree on the basis. Ofwat states £473 in real terms, while Water UK's later figures imply a nominal figure nearer £480. Rather than pick one silently, we show the years we can state without ambiguity.
- NHS dental. Before 2023 is left out. Each earlier year's band amounts sit in that year's ministerial statement, which we have not yet read for the older years.
Where this comes from, and where it could be wrong
Every figure is from the body that set it: the amending statutory instrument on legislation.gov.uk, the NHS Business Services Authority, a ministerial statement, or the setting body's own release. Where a clean primary figure for a year could not be pinned down, the year is left out and said to be missing rather than filled with a guess.
Ways this page could mislead you
Each figure is the amount in force from the date beside it. A charge you paid mid year was whatever the most recent date set, not an average of the year.
These are the headline national figures. Your own bill depends on your nation, your usage, your water company and whether you hold an exemption or a prepayment certificate.
Where a year is missing it is because we could not verify it from a primary source to the standard of the rest, not because nothing changed. The missing years are listed and explained.
The prescription and dental figures are for England. Wales, Scotland and Northern Ireland run different regimes, and prescriptions are free in all three.
Sources
30 price changes logged. Every one had a date you could have known in advance.
Tell us which bills you care about and we will email you when one of them changes, with the figure, the date it starts and a link to the regulator that set it. Free, no account, one click to stop.
Email alerts are not running yet. We would rather say that than take your address and send you nothing. Until they are, the change log carries every dated change the day we find it, and you can bookmark it or follow it in a reader.