What the Autumn Budget 2024 means for you

The government announced their Autumn Budget on Wednesday 30 October 2024. This was the first Budget from the new Labour government.

We'll explain how the changes are likely to affect your money and day-to-day life. This includes what the Budget will mean for the cost of living and people who get benefits.

Find out more about the Autumn Budget on GOV.UK.

Benefits

The government haven't announced they’re making any immediate changes to benefit payments. This includes: 

• Personal Independence Payment (PIP)

• Universal Credit

• Employment and Support Allowance (ESA)

This means your benefit payments won't be going up or down at the moment.

There might be changes in 2025, but we don't know what they will be yet. If you get benefits, the government will let you know about any changes to your benefit payments before anything happens.

If you’re under State Pension age and you get benefits, they’ll go up by 1.7% in April 2025. This includes benefits like Universal Credit, PIP, and ESA.

Child Benefit will also go up. You can claim Child Benefit at any age.

You can earn more while getting Carer’s Allowance

The ‘weekly earnings limit’ for Carer’s Allowance will be increased. If you're a carer, this means you'll be able to earn around £30 more each week from employment or self-employment.

The current Carer’s Allowance rate is £81.90 a week.

If you work and get Carer’s Allowance, it’s important to not earn more than the weekly earnings limit - if you do, you might stop getting Carer’s Allowance.

The weekly earnings limit is likely to increase in April 2025.

Companies can take less money from your Universal Credit payments

If you owe money to a company, they might be able to apply for part of your Universal Credit payments to go to them instead of you. This is called a 'third party deduction'.

At the moment, the third party deduction can be up to 25% of your Universal Credit standard amount. The standard amount is the basic amount you can get before things like childcare and housing costs are added.

The Autumn Budget will lower the amount that can be taken from your Universal Credit standard amount to 15%. This is likely to change in April 2025.

Check what to do if you get a third party deduction from your Universal Credit.

The AET threshold for Universal Credit will change

If you get Universal Credit and you’re in the ‘all work-related activity group’, you might have to start looking for more work in April 2025.

If you earn less than a certain amount each month, you need to show your work coach that you’re looking for more work. This amount is called the ‘Administrative Earnings Threshold’ (AET). The AET is based on the National Minimum Wage. When the National Minimum Wage goes up in April 2025, the AET will also go up.

When the AET increases, you might move over or under the threshold. For most people there won't be any change.

The ‘minimum income floor’ for self-employed people on Universal Credit will change

If you're self-employed and claim Universal Credit, the increase to the National Minimum Wage might affect you. This is because the minimum income floor is based on the National Minimum Wage.

Check if the minimum income floor applies to you.

If you get Universal Credit you’ll have to confirm if your circumstances have changed

You’ll have to regularly confirm if your circumstances are still the same or if they've changed. This will start in April 2025.

The government hasn't said what you'll have to do to confirm your circumstances, or how often you'll have to do this. You should get more information before April 2025.

If you claim Universal Credit online you'll probably have to confirm your circumstances through your online journal. If you claim by telephone, you'll probably confirm your circumstances by phone.

If you don't confirm your circumstances the government might stop your Universal Credit payments. You should follow any instructions you get about confirming your circumstances.

The government will make changes to the work capability assessment

You might need to do a work capability assessment if either:

• you claim Universal Credit and you can't work because you're disabled or have a health condition

• you claim Employment and Support Allowance

The assessment decides if you have ‘limited capability for work’ or ‘limited capability for work-related activity’. If you have ‘limited capability for work’, you might have to prepare for work. This might include writing a CV or doing training.

If you have ‘limited capability for work-related activity’, you don’t have to look for work or prepare for work.

The government said they want to spend less money on benefits. This might mean reducing the number of people who have limited capability for work-related activity.

We don’t yet know what the new changes will be or who they’ll affect. We’ll update this page when we know more.

There are no changes to the Child Benefit rules

Earlier this year, the previous government said they would increase the level of the 'High Income Child Benefit Charge'. This is the amount a parent can earn before they have to pay some of the Child Benefit back in tax.

The current government have now said they won't increase the High Income Child Benefit Charge.

This means you'll still have to pay back some of the Child Benefit in tax if one parent earns over £60,000. If one parent earns over £80,000 you'll have to pay it all back. It might still be worth claiming if one of you isn’t working - it can help the person who isn’t working build up their State Pension.

Check if you can get Child Benefit.

You can also get help with costs if you have a child or you’re pregnant.

Pensions

The government is keeping the State Pension Triple Lock. This means both Basic and new State Pensions will increase by 4.1% next year.

From April 2025, you could get up to:

• £176.45 a week if you get a basic State Pension

• £230.25 a week if you get a new flat-rate State Pension

The Minimum Income Guarantee (MIG) for pensions will also go up by 4.1% in April 2025. This is the minimum amount you’re expected to live on as someone who's over pension age. If your income is less than the MIG, you might be able to get it topped up with Pension Credit.

Check if you can get Pension Credit.

Work

The government have announced changes to the National Minimum Wage.

The National Minimum Wage is increasing

The National Minimum Wages will increase for everyone from April 2025.

If you’re aged 21 or over, it will increase from £11.44 to £12.21 an hour.

If you’re aged 18 to 20 years, it will increase from £8.60 to £10 an hour.

If you’re an apprentice or you’re 16 or 17 years old, it will increase from £6.40 to £7.55 an hour.

You won't pay more Income Tax and National Insurance

The amount of Income Tax and National Insurance you pay will stay the same. 

From April 2025, employers will pay more for National Insurance. The amount they'll have to pay will go up from 13.8% to 15%. They'll have to pay it for any employees who earn more than £5,000 a year.

To help small businesses with this, the amount of Employment Allowance they can get will increase from £5,000 to £10,500. Find out more about Employment Allowance on GOV.UK.

Right to Buy

If you're a council tenant, you might be able to buy your council home at a discount - this is called the 'Right to Buy'. The government have announced the discount you can get for the Right to Buy scheme will be lower from 21 November 2024.

If you apply for Right to Buy on or before 20 November 2024, you can get a discount of:

• up to £136,400 if you live in London

• up to £102,400 if you live anywhere else in the UK

If you apply on or after 21 November 2024, you can get a maximum discount of between £16,000 and £38,000. The discount you get will depend on where in the UK you live.

Check if you can apply for the Right to Buy scheme on GOV.UK.

The cost of living

The government has announced changes to things like bus fares, petrol prices and the Household Support Fund.

The cap on bus fares is increasing

The £2 cap on bus fares is increasing to £3. This means a single bus journey will cost up to £3. The cap won’t change again until December 2025.

Fuel duty is staying the same

The duty you pay on fuel prices will stay the same until April 2026. This is included in the price when you buy petrol or diesel.

The ‘Household Support Fund’ will continue

The Household Support Fund will continue until 2026 - we’ll update this page when we know exact dates.

The Household Support Fund is funding that the government gives to local councils. 

You might be able to get help from the Fund if you’re struggling to afford things like household bills and essential items, like clothes or an oven.

You don’t have to be getting benefits to get help from the Household Support Fund. 

The Household Support Fund is a type of public funds. If you aren’t a British or Irish citizen, check if your immigration documents say ‘no public funds’ or ‘no recourse to public funds’. If they do, you can’t apply for the Household Support Fund.

Check if your immigration status lets you get benefits.

Ask your local council if they run a Household Support Fund scheme - they might call it something else. Find out how to contact your local council on GOV.UK.

If you don’t have enough money to live on

You might be able to get help to afford things like essentials and travel. Check if you can get help with the cost of living.