The price of the BBC licence fee is set to rise to more than £200 in five years, according to official forecasts.
The BBC receives most of its funding from the TV licence – currently priced at £180-a-year – but the number of households paying it has dwindled in recent years.
Estimates by Office for Budget Responsibility (OBR) state it is expected to rise to £202.60 by 2031.
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Pope Leo becomes first pontiff to vote in US election
Pope Leo XIV has become the first pontiff to vote in a US election, the Vatican confirmed on Friday.
Caption: VATICAN CITY, VATICAN – OCTOBER 28: Pope Leo XIV holds his weekly General Audience at St. Peter’s Square on October 28, 2026 in Vatican City, Vatican. The Holy See Press Office announced on Tuesday that Pope Leo XIV wishes to express his closeness to survivors of clerical sexual abuse during his Apostolic Journey to Uruguay, Argentina, and Peru. The announcement came a day after the Press Office confirmed the Pope???s November 6???17 visit to the three Latin American nations. (Photo by Franco Origlia/Getty Images)
Photographer: Franco Origlia
Provider: Getty Images
Source: Getty Images Europe
Copyright: 2026 Franco Origlia
‘Right and duty to vote’
Pope Leo, who was born Robert Francis Prevost in Chicago, Illinois, submitted a mail-in ballot in his home state ahead of the midterm elections on 3 November.
Caption: People enter and leave a polling station during in-person early voting for the midterm elections in El Paso, Texas, US, October 19, 2026. REUTERS/Evelyn Hockstein
Photographer: Evelyn Hockstein
Provider: REUTERS
Source: REUTERS
Caption: Pope Leo XIV waves to pilgrims gathered in St. Peter’s Square as he arrives to lead the weekly general audience at The Vatican on October 28, 2026. (Photo by Filippo MONTEFORTE / AFP via Getty Images)
Photographer: FILIPPO MONTEFORTE
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Source: AFP
Copyright: AFP or licensors
The Pope, who has lived in Vatican City since his election last May, “expresses his belief in the right and the duty of citizens to participate in democratic processes”, a statement from the Vatican said.
Influence from abroad
Caption: VATICAN CITY, VATICAN – OCTOBER 28: Pope Leo XIV blesses faithful during his weekly General Audience at St. Peter’s Square on October 28, 2026 in Vatican City, Vatican. The Holy See Press Office announced on Tuesday that Pope Leo XIV wishes to express his closeness to survivors of clerical sexual abuse during his Apostolic Journey to Uruguay, Argentina, and Peru. The announcement came a day after the Press Office confirmed the Pope???s November 6???17 visit to the three Latin American nations. (Photo by Franco Origlia/Getty Images)
Photographer: Franco Origlia
Provider: Getty Images
Source: Getty Images Europe
Copyright: 2026 Franco Origlia
‘Exercising his right’
The Pope “has exercised his right to vote as a US citizen…whenever he was eligible to do so”.
Dedicated voter
He also voted while living in Peru as a missionary priest and bishop for over 20 years.
Caption: Peruvian artist Walt Wizard adjusts the zucchetto on his silicone statue of Pope Leo before setting it out for display ahead of the Pope’s November visit to Peru and other countries in South America, in Lima, Peru, October 28, 2026. REUTERS/Stifs Paucca
Photographer: Stifs Paucca
Provider: REUTERS
Source: REUTERS
Caption: TOPSHOT – Trump supporters cheers as the American flag is untangled before former US President and Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump speaks during a campaign event at Butler Farm Show Inc. in Butler, Pennsylvania, July 13, 2024. Donald Trump was hit in the ear in an apparent assassination attempt by a gunman at a campaign rally on Saturday, in a chaotic and shocking incident that will fuel fears of instability ahead of the 2024 US presidential election. (Photo by Rebecca DROKE / AFP) (Photo by REBECCA DROKE/AFP via Getty Images)
Photographer: REBECCA DROKE
Provider: AFP via Getty Images
Source: AFP
Pope’s hometown
The pontiff is yet to return to the US since his election but is registered to an address in New Lenox, a south-west Chicago suburb.
What’s on the ballot
Pope Leo had requested a mail-in voting ballot from the Will County Clerk’s office this month.
Illinois voters are deciding whether to elect Illinois Governor JB Pritzker to his third term.
They are also filling an open US Senate seat after longtime Catholic Democrat Dick Durbin’s retirement.
1 min read
Voting history
Historic records show that the Pope has previously voted in both Republican and Democratic primaries, as well as presidential elections as recently as 2024.
He did not vote in the Illinois primary in March.
American citizens who are based overseas can vote in US elections by mail if they choose to as per the Uniformed and Overseas Citizens Absentee Voting Act.
Caption: VATICAN CITY, VATICAN – OCTOBER 28: Pope Leo XIV greets faithful and pilgrims as he arrives in St.Peter’s Square for his weekly General Audience on October 28, 2026 in Vatican City, Vatican. The Holy See Press Office announced on Tuesday that Pope Leo XIV wishes to express his closeness to survivors of clerical sexual abuse during his Apostolic Journey to Uruguay, Argentina, and Peru. The announcement came a day after the Press Office confirmed the Pope???s November 6???17 visit to the three Latin American nations. (Photo by Franco Origlia/Getty Images)
Photographer: Franco Origlia
Provider: Getty Images
Source: Getty Images Europe
Copyright: 2026 Franco Origlia
Clashes with Trump
The upcoming midterms are seen as something of a referendum on the increasingly unpopular Donald Trump, and come after clashes between the US President and the Pope on issues such as conflicts in the Middle East and immigration.
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Analysis
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go deper on this topic
The small town in Ohio that shows why Trump is in trouble
Welcome to Ohio, where the dirtiest campaign of the midterm elections is unfolding. I’ve come to this state because its mix of farmland and factories has made it a bellwether for the nation.
EXPLAINED
Could you be eligible for the new Your First Home scheme?
The plan will deprive many first-time buyers of stability as they prepare to purchase a home (Photo: Yui Mok/PA)
Further details of the support being made available for aspiring first-time buyers were outlined in the Budget this week.
What to know
Your First Home scheme
70,000
The new £4.7bn scheme aims to help around 70,000 households in England to take their first step on to the property ladder.
20% equity
The scheme will provide 20 per cent equity loans to first-time buyers, accessible with a five-year interest-free period.
The deposit requirement will be 2.5 per cent, with a maximum deposit of 15 per cent.
Cost caps
Income caps for the scheme will be set at £110,000 per household outside London and £140,000 inside London.
Lenders said they would be keeping a close eye on the Budget to get more details about the scheme (Photo: Iuliia Bondar/Getty)
Millennials and Gen Z face the most uncertainty, but experts warn Generation X faces the biggest shock (Photo: Getty)
Budget documents said price caps for properties will be set based on local authority median prices to ensure support is targeted at those who need it, with inner and outer London caps of £650,000 and £500,000, respectively.
When does it start?
The scheme will open for pre-registration by the end of December 2026 and full applications from February 2027, with the first loans issued from April 2027.
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MONEY
How to lower your council tax band – and the deadline for £100 energy payment
Council tax bills are set to rise again in April next year (Photo: clubfoto/Getty)
The Government has seen a surge in council tax enquiries following Chancellor John Healey’s maiden Budget. Here’s why.
What to know
On Wednesday, the Chancellor revealed that the more than 20 million households in council tax bands A-D in England will get a £100 payment sent straight to their bank accounts, to give people “breathing space” to offset rising energy bills. The Welsh Government confirmed it will deliver the same £100 payment, and funding has been allocated to Scotland and Northern Ireland to set up equivalent schemes.
Explained
4 min read
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Checking your council tax band
Many people are struggling to afford their council tax, with more hikes ahead (Photo: S French/iStockphoto/Getty)
How it works
Each residential property in England, Scotland and Wales is assigned a council tax band, from A to H.
Who pays what?
Tax is cheapest for those in Band A, with each band after that more expensive.
There are a variety of measures which Reeves could take to change the system to try and remedy her cash-strapped Treasury (Photo: Brian A Jackson/Getty)
(Photo: stocknshares/Getty).
Check online
There is a government website for people to check what band they are in based on their home address.
Could your band be wrong?
However, many people may be sitting in the wrong council tax bands because of incorrect valuations that were made in 1991, as time-pressured assessors often drove through streets and looked at houses from the outside to determine their value.
Some homes may be sitting in the wrong Council Tax band (Getty Images)
Analysis
3 min read
What to do before challenging
The Valuation Office Agency (VOA) experienced “high demand” for council tax services after the Budget, including challenges to bands. Before going down that road, though, you should check a few things:
You can’t ask for your band to be lowered, only revalued, meaning you or your neighbour’s bands could also go up.
So, check if you are in a different band to your neighbours in similar or identical properties.
You also need to know your property’s worth in 1991, so enter the price and date of sale into a free website like Zoopla.
Then, find a house that is similar to yours on your street that sold recently and note down the price and date.
Input this information into a home valuation calculator and compare it to the council tax band you are in today.
How to challenge
ProposalOne way to challenge your banding is to make a proposal if you’ve been paying council tax on your property for less than six months or changed your band in the past six months. The VOA must review your band by law.
ReviewIf you think you are in the wrong band and you have been paying council tax for more than six months, you can request a band review. However, the onus is on you to provide strong evidence that you are in the wrong band after reviewing your “property attributable data”, which the VOA can provide online or over the phone.
Cut off date
There will be a cut-off date when people will need to have their council tax band reviewed by to be eligible for the £100 payment.
This date, which is yet to be announced, will be part of guidance to local authorities with details on eligibility criteria for the payment.
3 min read
The Thunderbirds-inspired house that has sold for £375,000
Caption: FILE PHOTO – The pool at the property in Tilehurst in Reading. // An incredible house featuring an underground network of tunnels hand dug by the owner has sold for ?375,000.Civil engineer Tony Deane spent two decades creating a subterranean maze of rooms and corridors under his home.The unique complex contains more than 1,300 square feet of underground space, including tunnels and storage rooms.It even has a hand-built railway and one room features a secret entrance – hidden inside a rocket by the pool.
Photo released 28/10/2026
Photographer: SWNS
Provider: BTG Eddisons Property Auctions
Source: BTG Eddisons Property Auctions
A house in Berkshire inspired by Thunderbirds, featuring an extensive network of tunnels, rooms and a railway – all more than 50 feet underground – has sold at auction for £375,000.
Age-old inspiration
Located on Long Lane in the village of Tilehurst, on the outskirts of Reading, the property was inspired by Tracy Island, the secret headquarters featured in popular 1960s TV series Thunderbirds.
Caption: FILE PHOTO – One of the underground tunnels under a property in Tilehurst in Reading. // An incredible house featuring an underground network of tunnels hand dug by the owner has sold for ?375,000.Civil engineer Tony Deane spent two decades creating a subterranean maze of rooms and corridors under his home.The unique complex contains more than 1,300 square feet of underground space, including tunnels and storage rooms.It even has a hand-built railway and one room features a secret entrance – hidden inside a rocket by the pool.
Photo released 28/10/2026
Photographer: SWNS
Provider: BTG Eddisons Property Auctions
Source: BTG Eddisons Property Auctions
Caption: FILE PHOTO – The property in Tilehurst in Reading. // An incredible house featuring an underground network of tunnels hand dug by the owner has sold for ?375,000.Civil engineer Tony Deane spent two decades creating a subterranean maze of rooms and corridors under his home.The unique complex contains more than 1,300 square feet of underground space, including tunnels and storage rooms.It even has a hand-built railway and one room features a secret entrance – hidden inside a rocket by the pool.
Photo released 28/10/2026
Photographer: SWNS
Provider: BTG Eddisons Property Auctions
Source: BTG Eddisons Property Auctions
The site boasts a swimming pool and garden with a model space rocket measuring around 23 feet tall, as well as a 2,500 square foot workshop and a hand-built underground railway, with the subterranean network spanning four levels.
Future plans
The tunnels were the passion-project of civil engineer Tony Deane, the late owner of the property, who started on them over two decades ago. Now, there are plans to convert the spacious workshop – which spans three floors – into a three-bedroom house.
Caption: FILE PHOTO – One of the underground tunnels under a property in Tilehurst in Reading. // An incredible house featuring an underground network of tunnels hand dug by the owner has sold for ?375,000.Civil engineer Tony Deane spent two decades creating a subterranean maze of rooms and corridors under his home.The unique complex contains more than 1,300 square feet of underground space, including tunnels and storage rooms.It even has a hand-built railway and one room features a secret entrance – hidden inside a rocket by the pool.
Photo released 28/10/2026
Photographer: SWNS
Provider: BTG Eddisons Property Auctions
Source: BTG Eddisons Property Auctions
Caption: FILE PHOTO – Inside the property in Tilehurst in Reading. // An incredible house featuring an underground network of tunnels hand dug by the owner has sold for ?375,000.Civil engineer Tony Deane spent two decades creating a subterranean maze of rooms and corridors under his home.The unique complex contains more than 1,300 square feet of underground space, including tunnels and storage rooms.It even has a hand-built railway and one room features a secret entrance – hidden inside a rocket by the pool.
Photo released 28/10/2026
Photographer: SWNS
Provider: BTG Eddisons Property Auctions
Source: BTG Eddisons Property Auctions
Other features
Deane, the previous owner, first built underground changing rooms for the property’s swimming pool in the 1960s.
The entrance was behind the existing model rocket.
Construction on the tunnels took place in the 80s and 90s, carried out by Deane and his family.
The underground space also features storage rooms and two secret doors, one formed by a 1.5-tonne sliding concrete wall.
‘Unique opportunity’
It represents a really unique opportunity for somebody to either develop it or to live there and enjoy it. To say it’s a workshop is doing it down a little bit, it’s constructed better than 95% of houses, to be honest.
Richard Worrall, auctioneer and consultant at BTG Eddisons Property Auctions
Caption: from emma@appealpr.com
Going underground: extraordinary hand-dug tunnel network hidden beneath Reading property goes to auction
A hand-built underground railway, one-tonne goods lift and an extensive network of tunnels and underground rooms are among the extraordinary features hidden for decades beneath a Reading property going to auction for ?300,000 this month.
The remarkable subterranean network, which descends through four levels, was created over two decades by a civil engineer and his family, reaching more than 15 metres below ground.
Hidden beneath a workshop in the leafy residential Tilehurst area of Reading, the complex contains more than 1,300 sq ft of underground space, including tunnels and storage rooms, as well as two secret doors, one formed by a 1.5-tonne sliding concrete wall.
The OBR also said the number of people paying the licence fee will drop by 2.7 million to just 19 million over the next five years.
In July the BBC’s director-general, Matt Brittin, told MPs the traditional licence fee model was a “busted flush” and warned that more programmes would be axed if the charge is not replaced by a “sustainable” funding mechanism.
The Government is in talks with the BBC about reforms to the corporation’s funding model as part of its charter review. The i Paper takes a look at what proposals are being considered.
£11 internet charge for BBC ‘members’
One radical proposal put forward is an £11-a-month internet levy replacing the licence fee and viewers being invited to become “BBC members”.
A long-term solution drawn up by the Social Market Foundation (SMF) is that the charge is added to broadband bills, which would be nearly £50 cheaper than the TV licence fee.
The SMF also said BBC “members” would get the opportunity to join a special council, which would give them an opportunity to hold corporation bosses accountable for their decisions.
The report, understood to have been discussed with advisers to Culture Secretary Lisa Nandy, warned that the BBC would have to axe some of its popular shows like The Celebrity Traitors and Sir David Attenborough’s Planet Earth if its public funding is slashed.
German-style scheme
Brittin has suggested that that a new funding model for the BBC could be introduced that mirrors a scheme in Germany called Der Rundfunkbeitrag.
All households in Germany pay €18.36 per month (£15.70) to fund all public TV and radio broadcasters across different stares.
If such a scheme was rolled out in the UK, BBC funding would no longer be directly linked to whether people watch or listen to its programmes.
Brittin told the Department for Culture, Media and Sport (DMCS) Select Committee if 100 per cent of homes paid through such a scheme, it would save hundreds of millions of pounds in collection and enforcement costs.
He also predicted the scheme would enable the fee to be reduced by 20 per cent from its current level – meaning the cost of watching TV would be cut by £36 a year.
Brittin suggested the £180 annual charge could be cut by 20 per cent under a new funding system that would consign the licence fee to history.
He said: “A number of European countries have moved to a household levy. It has advantages, it is universal and collection can be simpler.
“You can imagine broadband or mobile or electricity bills could be ways to do this.”
He added if the BBC was funded for by all households the “licence fee could be lowered for everyone”.
Concessions for low incomes and young people
Brittin also suggested the Government could reduce the cost of the licence fee for lower-income households and younger viewers, adding this prospect is “quite appealing”.
But ministers ruled out household levies in a policy paper on the future of the BBC.
The Culture Secretary has also previously said: “We ruled out a new tax on households because of the cost of living crisis.”
She added paying for the BBC from general taxation opens the broadcaster to interference from the government of the day.
A BBC source previously told The i Paper: “It’s a decision the Government has to make soon. The outcome isn’t set until the ink is on the paper. The BBC has done work on the likely cost of a wide range of options including a levy.”
A spokesperson for the public broadcaster added: “Matt’s comments are based on the fact that if all households pay, rather than 80 per cent, some form of discounted price would be possible.”
Streaming levy for Netflix, YouTube and TikTok users
Another proposal suggested by Brittin is a streaming surcharge being slapped on anybody who watches videos on platforms like Netflix, YouTube and TikTok on mobile and laptop devices.
Brittin said: “The challenge is how many people would pay it and how much the cost of collecting it would increase.”
He also warned that the BBC was finding it harder to persuade younger people, used to instant “click and access” viewing, that they need to pay for a licence.
Another idea put forward by several Conservative politicians is transitioning the BBC to a Netflix-style subscription model.
The BBC said this would force it to prioritise profitable entertainment and abandon essential public service genres like news and education – which US streamers aren’t required to provide.
Nandy has suggested charging a smaller levy or “surcharge” for households that only watch commercial streaming services and rarely consume BBC content could be a solution.
This would be justified on that basis that many programmes on those services are either licensed from the BBC or made with talent developed by the BBC.