Households have been urged to stock up on stamps ahead of another major price rise set to be introduced by the Royal Mail from next month.
The postal service said the price of a second-class stamp would go up by 4p to 91p and first-class stamps would increase by 10p to £1.80 from April 7.
This latest hike means the price of a first-class stamp has now more than doubled over the past six years, increasing by 137 per cent through eight separate rises. Second-class stamps have seen six price increases in the same period.
Commenting on the rise, Martin Lewis has advised people who may need stamps to stock up now to avoid having to pay more later.
The money expert said: “For years, every time stamps go up in price I've suggested people stock up and bulk-buy in advance, as provided the stamp doesn't have a price on it and instead just says the postage class, it's still valid after the rise.
“This has been an effective tactic, as a first-class letter stamp is now £1.70, soon rising to £1.80 – in 2012 it was just 60p. So you may as well stock up now if you’re going to need stamps.”
The latest price rises coincide come as concerns grow over Royal Mail’s performance, after the postal service admitted last month it had once again failed to meet its delivery targets.
Anne Pardoe, head of policy at Citizens Advice, said: “More than half-a-decade has gone by since the company met its delivery targets and people still face a gamble, with many uncertain if their important documents or letters like medical appointments will arrive on time.
“Things only risk getting worse when cuts to delivery days and reduced performance targets come into full effect.
“Against this backdrop, Ofcom simply cannot wave through these increases any longer.
“Higher prices must come with higher standards – increases should be tied to Royal Mail’s performance on the doorstep.”
Royal Mail has been called in to face a committee of MPs who have raised concerns about “chaos” in the postal service since Christmas and suggestions that some letters are being delivered in “batches”.
Royal Mail said the stamp rises reflected the continued increase in the cost of delivery as letter volumes fell and the number of addresses increased.
Richard Travers, managing director of letters at Royal Mail, said: “We always consider price changes very carefully, balancing affordability with the rising cost of delivering mail.
“On average, UK adults now spend just £6.50 each year on stamps and there are 70% fewer letters sent than 20 years ago.
“In the meantime, the number of addresses we deliver to has increased by four million to 32 million addresses across the UK.”
The last time Royal Mail met its annual target for delivering first-class post on time was in 2019/20.
The firm – whose owner International Distribution Services (IDS) was bought last June for £3.6 billion by Czech billionaire Daniel Kretinsky’s EP Group – repeated its call to “urgently move forward” with reforms to the service.
Ofcom last year cleared Royal Mail to scrap second-class letter deliveries on Saturdays and change the service to every other weekday.
Royal Mail has since introduced the changes as a pilot across 35 delivery offices.
But it has been in intensive talks with the Communications Workers Union (CWU) after failing to agree on how to roll out the universal service changes across its 1,200-strong network.
Month-long talks ended on March 2 without agreement and have been extended for two weeks to allow the sides to reach agreement.
Mr Travers said: “To protect the service for the future we need to urgently move forward with implementing universal service reform to support a more modern, more reliable and more sustainable service for our customers.”
Royal Mail argued that despite the price rises, UK stamps still cost less than the European average of £1.56 for a second-class stamp and £1.93 for first class.
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