Prices & inflation
UK food prices: the basket, the pint and the fish supper
Food inflation is 1.3%, a five-year low, but nothing got cheaper. A single adult's weekly food budget is £79.71, a pint £5.34, a fish supper £11.17. And why the official pint series stopped in January 2025.
Fuel prices now show in Google Maps: how to find the cheapest pump
From 8 October 2026 Google Maps displays near real-time petrol and diesel prices at UK filling stations, drawing on the government's Fuel Finder scheme, which now covers around 99% of fuel sold on UK roads. The government puts the saving at about £40 a year for a household with a car — against a diesel price of 199.52 pence a litre, the highest on record.
UK house prices stall: annual growth halves to 0.8% and prices slip over the month
Nationwide’s September house price index, published on 1 October, shows annual growth halving from 1.6% to 0.8% — the weakest since December 2025. Prices fell 0.2% over the month and the average home costs £274,251. London is up just 0.4% over the year, Northern Ireland 5.9%, while East Anglia, the East Midlands and the South West are in negative territory.
UK vape tax starts 1 October: £2.20 duty per 10ml of e-liquid — what happens to prices
From 1 October 2026 the UK's new Vaping Products Duty comes into force: £2.20 per 10ml of e-liquid, with or without nicotine. A £3.99 bottle will rise to about £6.60, a 100ml shortfill by £26.40 including VAT. Cigarettes go up the same day by roughly 53p a pack in a linked one-off rise.
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Lost property and seized goods in the UK: where finds are stored, where unclaimed items go, and whether they really sell for pennies
A legend every immigrant has heard: somewhere there is a warehouse where forgotten suitcases and seized goods sell for pennies. We checked the primary sources — it is half true. Transport finds are kept for three months (TfL at Baker Street; Heathrow charges £5 to £25 to return an item), and unclaimed property genuinely is sold afterwards, but at official auctions open to anyone. 'Customs confiscate' offered on social media is always a scam. The whole chain: timescales, addresses, prices and the reseller's taxes.
UK retail sales up 0.5% in August — but shoppers are spending 6% more for 2.4% more goods
ONS data for August: retail sales volumes rose 0.5% on the month and 0.9% over three months. Over the year volumes are up 2.4% while the value of sales is up 6.0% — a 3.5 percentage point gap that is pure price. Online accounts for 27.4% of sales, peaking every November. Next release: 23 October.
UK inflation accelerates to 3.1% as diesel jumps 14 pence in a month — a day before the rate decision
The ONS has published August data: consumer prices rose 3.1% over the year against 2.9% in July, a third consecutive rise. The cause is almost entirely fuel: motor fuels are up 23% over the year and petrol is at 161.3 pence a litre, the dearest since November 2022. A full tank of diesel costs £7.10 more than a month ago. Core inflation and services, meanwhile, did not move, and food has held at 1.3% for a third month.
What changes from 1 October: six things that will touch almost everyone
Energy bills rise £60 a year, but VAT on electricity goes to zero. Right-to-work checks extend to couriers and subcontractors. The tribunal time limit doubles to six months. Date by date — plus three deadlines to meet.
Council tax in 2026/27: what you pay, who pays less, and what happens if you fall behind
The average Band D bill in England is £2,392 a year. A 25% single-adult discount, 50% and full student exemptions, and the separate Council Tax Reduction scheme — none of it applies automatically, only on application. And seven days after a missed payment, the whole year becomes due.
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Food in Britain: where it is genuinely cheaper, and the money you may not be claiming
Yellow stickers on a timetable are a myth, and four of the big chains confirmed it. Meanwhile free school meals now go to every family on Universal Credit whatever their income, the old Household Support Fund has closed and been replaced, and community fridges hand out food with no voucher and no means test.