London Living Wage rises to £15.45 an hour

The Living Wage Foundation announced new real Living Wage rates on 15 October 2026. In London the rate rises to £15.45 an hour; across the rest of the UK it goes to £14.10. Both are up by 65p — a 4.4% increase in the capital and 4.8% nationally.

How much is the London Living Wage now?

£15.45 an hour, up from £14.80 a year earlier. The UK rate moves from £13.45 to £14.10. London's figure is always higher because a separate basket is calculated for the capital, reflecting costlier housing, transport and childcare.

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The Foundation says the rise will reach almost half a million workers at accredited employers. There are now close to 17,000 accredited organisations across the country.

How is this different from the government minimum wage?

The real Living Wage is voluntary. The legal floor is something else: the National Living Wage and National Minimum Wage, enforced by HMRC. Since 1 April 2026 those rates are £12.71 an hour for workers aged 21 and over, £10.85 for 18 to 20-year-olds, and £8.00 for under-18s and apprentices.

The gap with the London rate is £2.74 an hour. Over a full-time week of 37.5 hours that is more than £5,300 a year. Nationally the gap is smaller: £1.39 an hour, or over £2,700 a year.

An employer that has not signed up to the Living Wage Foundation scheme is under no obligation to pay £15.45 — only the statutory minimum applies. The real Living Wage can be expected only from an accredited employer, and it is a contractual commitment rather than a legal one.

Who gets the rise and from when?

Accredited employers have six months to implement the new rates, with a deadline of 1 May 2027. Some raise pay immediately after the announcement, others closer to the cut-off. If you work for an accredited organisation, it is worth asking HR for the exact date.

The commitment extends to contractors: accreditation requires the real Living Wage to be paid not only to directly employed staff but also to third-party staff working regularly on site, such as cleaners and security.

How is the rate calculated?

The calculation is carried out by the Resolution Foundation and overseen by the Living Wage Commission. It rests on two measures. The first is the Minimum Income Standard, research by Loughborough University's Centre for Research in Social Policy supported by the Joseph Rowntree Foundation, which uses public consultation to establish the goods and services needed for an acceptable standard of living. The second is the poverty threshold — 60% of median household income after housing costs.

The two are combined across 17 family types, taking account of how taxes and benefits affect each. Resolution Foundation data adds housing, childcare, council tax and transport costs. London's basket is calculated separately.

What if your employer is accredited but has not raised your pay?

Start with a written request to HR citing the announcement date and the 1 May 2027 deadline. If there is no response, the Living Wage Foundation itself can be told: it grants accreditation and it can withdraw it.

Being paid below the statutory minimum is a different matter — that breaks the law. HMRC takes complaints, the employer faces a penalty and must repay arrears, and the company can be added to a public naming list.

The Foundation estimates that around 4.4 million workers in the UK are paid less than the real Living Wage.