BBC licence fee will soar above £200 in the next five years after 500,000 homes stopped paying it last year

Published: 06:35 EDT, 30 October 2026 | Updated: 07:05 EDT, 30 October 2026 The BBC licence fee will soar above £200 in the next five years as it grapples with a falling viewership and growing non-payment.Currently £180, the licence fee is expected to rise to £202.60 by 2031 according to official forecasts from the Office for Budget Responsibility (OBR).The Corporation is losing around 500,000 licence-fee payers every year and bosses have warned of a 'steeper than projected decline' in recent months.Just 19million people are expected to pay the licence fee by 2031, a drop of 2.7million over the next five years.It is a major downgrade from the OBR's previous projection that 21million people would still be paying the fee by the end of that period.And it comes just one month after MPs recommended the Government lower the levy's cost to encourage more people to pay for it.A report by the House of Commons digital, culture, media and sport committee on the BBC's Royal Charter review also recommended ministers keep open the option of ditching the fee in favour of a charge on all households.The Government is due to decide how the BBC will be governed, regulated and funded from 2028 onwards. The BBC licence fee, which funds programming including Strictly Come Dancing, is expected to soar above £200 in the next five years BBC director general Matt Brittin is overseeing a £500million cost-cutting effortMatt Brittin, the BBC's director general, has labelled the mandatory fee a 'busted flush' as fewer Britons make the payment.The Corporation has said while 94 per cent of households use its services each month, only 80 per cent pay the licence fee.Earlier this month Culture Secretary Lisa Nandy was said to be considering proposals for a 'Netflix tax' to extend the licence fee to streaming services.The move, which could boost BBC funding, was under review by Ms Nandy in a blueprint expected to be published before Christmas.It could mean viewers on streaming platforms such as Netflix, Amazon, Disney+ and YouTube could pay more to watch the sites' programmes.Mr Brittin previously told the Commons committee the BBC had lost up to £1.3billion of licence fee funding over the last ten years.And licence fee funding has fallen around 30 per cent in real terms as it reeled from the impact of successive freezes.The director general aims to save £500million in the next two years with a major cost-cutting effort expected to lead to 2,000 job losses. A BBC spokesman said: 'We have consistently argued that the current funding model is outdated and needs reform.'We will continue to engage with government to secure a new charter that provides sustainable, sufficient and universal funding so the BBC can deliver for audiences for generations to come.'A Government spokesman said: 'The BBC must be funded by a model that is sustainable and fair to all those that are paying it.'Through Charter Review, we are looking at a range of options, including how the BBC can operate more efficiently, generate more commercial revenue, and how the licence fee could be reformed.'