THE COST of a TV licence will increase from April, the BBC has said.

The annual fee will rise from £154.50 to £157.50 – an increase of £3.

According to the broadcaster, the new cost will be equal to £3.02 a household per week, or £13.13 a month.

It comes just days after the BBC said it could cut 450 jobs.

And in December, Prime Minister Boris Johnson said he was considering reviewing the licence fee altogether.

In the run-up to the General Election, he said: “I think that the system of funding what is effectively a general tax, isn’t it, everybody has a TV, it bears reflection – let me put it that way.”

It also comes amidst controversy over the scrapping of the free TV licence for over-75s from June 1.

Pensioners will have to pay for a licence, unless they qualify for pension credit.

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The Government is responsible for setting the price of the licence and it has risen every year in line with inflation since 2016.

Before then it was frozen for six years at £145.50 a year.

The government also recently announced that it was considering de-criminalising TV licence fee avoidance.

Rishi Sunak, MP for Richmond, confirmed the Prime Minister had order a review of the sanction for non-payment.

Prosecution for non-payment of the fee can end in a court appearance and a potential fine of up to £1,000.

But the BBC said this could cost it £200m a year.

A reminder or payment plan reflecting the new amount will be sent to licence fee payers when they next renew.

If you are already paying for a licence on an instalment scheme – which started before April 2020 – such as a monthly direct debit or weekly cash payment, you will continue to make payments totalling £154.50.

Those buying a new licence before 1 April 2020 will pay the current rate.

There are different ways to pay for a television licence, including small weekly cash payments and monthly direct debit.