ROYAL Mail has hiked the price of first and second class stamps.
The price of first class stamps has risen by 15p to £1.10.
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The price of second class stamps has jumped by 7p to 75p.
These changes have been subject to careful consideration by Royal Mail in light of the 25% drop in letters being sent since the pandemic.
Increasing costs and high inflation rates are also to blame for the price hikes.
While the UK’s rate of inflation fell to 10.1% in January, the latest official figures show that prices are still rising.
Royal Mail charges different postage prices depending on the size or weight of the item.
The stamps can be bought individually if you buy it at a Post Office counter.
Otherwise, you can typically buy them in sets of multiple stamps.
First class stamps are more expensive than second class, as they will get your letter to its destination faster.
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The cost of a first class stamp is now £1.10 for a standard letter.
A book of eight first class stamps costs £8.80 from Royal Mail.
A second class stamp for a standard letter costs 75p.
Typically, it takes two to three working days for a second class item to arrive, including Saturday.
You can buy second class stamps individually from the Post Office.
But you can also get them in a book of eight for £6 at a variety of different shops, like supermarkets and off-licences.
The price hikes come as Royal Mail is expected to report an adjusted operating loss of £350 million to £450 million for the full year.
Citizens Advice previously responded to the news and said that the price hikes to first-class stamps represent a 64% increase over the last five years.
Matthew Upton, director of policy at Citizens Advice said: “These record-breaking prices couldn’t be coming at a worse time for consumers.
“Royal Mail is choosing to hike prices at a time when millions are missing important letters, thanks to post delays. Nobody should be paying more for this kind of subpar service.
Almost one in five people are already struggling to meet the cost of second class postage stamps and the charity is calling Ofcom to hold Royal Mail to account.
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 are seeing a fundamental change in consumer needs with a greater shift in demand from letters to parcels.
“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.”
How are postage prices decided?
The Royal Mail typically increases the price of stamps annually and last year the price rose in April.
Normally, it gives customers advance warning of around a month before pushing up prices.
This year the hike was announced in March.
Royal Mail said it is hiking the price of postage due to the decline in the number of people sending letters.
The number of letters being posted has dropped 60% since 2005 and around 20% since the start of the pandemic.
It also blamed rising inflation for the increase.
Brits are facing a cost of living crisis, with food and energy bill prices also on the rise.
Royal Mail said it is a necessary move to meet its Universal Service obligation.
That means the postal service has to deliver letters to 31million home and business addresses six days a week at one, universal price.
