Royal Mail increase price of first class stamp by 15p to £1.10 in record-breaking hike 

A first class stamp will cost £1.10 in a record-breaking price hike, Royal Mail has announced.

From 3 April, the price of a first class stamp is set to rise in price by 15p, from 95p to £1.10.

The price of second class stamps will also rise by 7p, from 68p to 75p.

The 16% increase soars above the current level of inflation of 10.1% and follows the 10% increase from last year.

Royal Mail said the decision to increase the price was made after ‘careful consideration’, citing the 25% drop in letter volumes since the Covid-19 pandemic.

The postal service said the price rise was necessary to sustain its Universal Service agreement, whereby it pledges to deliver anywhere in the country for the same price. 

Royal Mail’s financial plight saw the company reveal plans last year for up to 6,000 redundancies, as it said it expected to fall to an annual loss of up to £450 million.

On Friday, Royal Mail said it remains committed to the universal service but said that costs are increasing as ‘customer behaviours change’.

However, they have asked the Government to reduce its obligation to deliver letters to Britons six-days-a-week to five-days-a-week.

Nick Landon, chief commercial officer at Royal Mail said: ‘We appreciate that many businesses and households are facing a challenging economic environment and we are committed to keeping our prices affordable.

‘Letters have declined by 25% compared to pre-pandemic.

‘We have to carefully balance our pricing against a continued decline in letter volumes and the increasing costs of delivering letters six days a week to an ever-growing number of addresses across the country.

‘We need to make these price changes to ensure we can continue to maintain and invest in the one-price-goes-anywhere universal service for years to come.”

A first class stamp should mean your letter reaches its intended address the next day.

Sending a letter with a second class stamp means it typically takes two to three working days to arrive, including Saturday.

Almost one in five people are said to be unable to afford the current 95p cost of a first class stamp

Nearly one in five people cannot afford a second class postage stamps. 

Citizens Advice responded to the news by saying that the price hikes to first class stamps represent a 64% increase over the last five years. 

The group criticised the changes after revealing ‘significant’ letter delays for the third successive year during the 2022 festive period.

The charity estimates 60% of UK adults were hit by letter delays, with 6.2 million people missing important mail such as health appointment letters during Christmas last year.