Stamps go up 1p just a year after last rise

THE cost of sending a letter is going up by 1p, only twelve months after the last rise.

A first class stamp is to cost 64p and second class mail also goes up 1p to 55p, from March 29. Sending a large letter not heavier than 100g will also cost 1p more, at 96p first class and 75p for second class.

The rises announced yesterday are the third increase since the Royal Mail was privatised in 2013, in a sell- off heavily criticised as undervaluing the business by billions of pounds. The cost of posting letters first class has doubled in ten years, while second class postage has risen 10 per cent in three years.

Under the previous regulator Postcomm, the price of stamps was kept artificially low, causing the then nationalised business to lose £1bilion. When Ofcom took over as watchdog in 2012 it introduced price hikes to keep Royal Mail sustainable.

The number of letters continues to fall – dropping 3 per cent in the nine months to December. More parcels are being sent however, with the Royal Mail delivering 130 million extra compared with the same period last year, in the face of stiff competition from Amazon, DPD and Hermes.

The Royal Mail defended the ‘smallest possible’ rises yesterday and said it offers the cheapest prices in Europe, where basic first class letter post costs an average 78p.