The four things set to cost more in UK after Autumn Budget

This week's Autumn Budget could bring bad news for drivers, public transport users and house hunters.

While the new Labour government has promised not to increase taxes for working people, reports suggest several changes will increase the cost of living for some Brits.

Removing the 5p fuel duty cut could make it more expensive to fill up your car, while people who use the bus could also see an increase to their fares. An end to stamp duty relief would mean more house-buyers roped into paying a pricey bill, while those who sent their children to private schools could see higher fees as a result of a VAT exemption being scrapped.

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Labour's economic plans will be laid out in the House of Commons on Wednesday when chancellor Rachel Reeves delivers her first Budget.

The government is looking to fill a £22 billion “black hole” in the public finances, inherited from the previous Tory government, Labour has said. But Ms Reeves is said to have since identified a far larger £40 billion funding gap which she is seeking to plug.

She is expected to announce a series of tax rises and new money-saving measures to protect key services including the NHS.

Here we've identified four announcements expected in the Autumn Budget that could see Brits paying higher prices.

1. Filling up your car

If reports that Labour will end the 5p cut to fuel duty are true then filling up your car could be about to get pricier.

Fuel duty, a tax which is included in the price motorists pay at the pumps, looks set to rise for the first time in more than a decade.

Fuel duty was frozen by the Tories between 2010 and 2022, and then cut by 5p to 52.95p per litre, where it is currently set to remain until March 2025. Reports suggest the government is now planning to announce a hike in fuel duty - which would be the first in 14 years.

The levy is a major source of revenue for the government, so raising it could be an easy way to help meet Ms Reeves’ £40 billion target.

AA president Edmund King warned drivers that the move would see fuel price rise again after they recently dropped to a near three-year low. "Removing [the cut] threatens to send millions of low-income drivers back into the era of perma-high road fuel prices," he said. "Getting rid of the fuel duty cut unleashes a £3.30 a tank shock on the personal and family budgets of the 28 per cent of drivers who spend a set amount when they go to a fuel station."

However, the RAC said Ms Reeves "has no option but to put fuel duty back up" as drivers are not seeing the benefit of the 5p cut anyway. "We’d normally be against any increase in duty," said RAC head of policy Simon Williams. "But we’ve long been saying drivers haven’t been benefitting from the current discount due to much higher-than-average retailer margins."

The Group Campaign for Better Transport has calculated that scrapping the 5p cut and re-instating annual inflation-linked increased in fuel duty would be worth £4.2bn to the Treasury, the BBC reports.

2. Buying a home

For some people, changes to stamp duty could make buying a new home a lot more expensive.

Ms Reeves is reportedly set to announce that stamp duty relief for first-time buyers and current homeowners will expire next year as planned.

In the 2022 mini budget, the Conservatives announced major changes to stamp duty, raising the threshold at which current homeowners pay the duty from £125,000 to £250,000. For first-time buyers, the threshold was raised to £425,000, up from £300,000.

The stamp duty holidays are set to expire in April 2025, with Labour looking unlikely to freeze the thresholds at their current levels past that deadline. The thresholds returning to their lower levels would mean thousands more house-buyers will end up paying the tax.

According to Rightmove, just 37 per cent of homes for sale in England will be free from stamp duty for first-time buyers when the old thresholds are reinstated.

Analysis by consumer watchdog Which? found that buyers will face an average £2,500 rise in their stamp duty bill, but some could end up paying as much as £11,000 more.

3. Catching the bus

Sir Keir Starmer has already announced that a £2 cap on bus fares will come to an end this year, making bus journeys more expensive.

From next year, the cap for a single journey will rise by 50 per cent, to £3. Sir Keir announced the change during a speech in Birmingham on Monday morning.

Single bus fares in England have been capped at £2 outside London, where they are £1.75 per journey for most routes, since January last year.

A Government source told the PA news agency that maintaining a cap on bus fares was “hard fought for in the Budget process” and is largely aimed at helping passengers in rural areas. Analysis commissioned by the Department for Transport (DfT) reportedly found that the £2 cap was "not financially sustainable for the taxpayer".

The DfT said maintaining the £3 cap until the end of 2025 would cost £151 million, while the government was also providing £925 million for local authorities and bus service operators to improve routes.

Transport secretary Louise Haigh said capping fares at £3 would "avoid a cliff-edge at the end of this year and keep fares affordable across the country – improving access to opportunities, particularly in towns and rural areas, while offering value for the taxpayer".

4. Sending your child to a private school

The government has also already announced plans to levy VAT on private school fees, which could see some parents paying more to send their kids to school.

Currently, independent schools do not have to charge 20 per cent VAT on their fees because there is an exemption for the supply of education. However, that is set to change in January next year when the VAT exemption and business rates relief for private schools will be removed.

The move aims to raise funds for 6,500 new teachers in state schools, the government has said. It is expected to lead to a hike in school fees to cover the additional costs, although ministers have argued that many schools will not raise their fees as a result of the new policy.

Earlier this month, Treasury minister James Murray defended the plans, arguing that most private schools would be able to keep fee increases affordable for parents by absorbing a "significant proportion" of the new VAT charges. He said some schools have committed to absorbing the VAT liability entirely, while others are capping fee increases at 5 per cent or 10 per cent.

In response to concerns that schools had not been given enough time to plan for the changes, Mr Murray said the government had decided to introduce the policy from January 1 because they wanted to "raise the funding we need as soon as possible".

He added that the number of pupils who may switch to state schools as a result of the changes is "likely to represent a very small proportion of overall pupil numbers".