Half a million people stopped paying BBC licence fee in the past year - after it rose to £180

By MARTIN ROBINSON, CHIEF REPORTER Published: 12:41, 14 July 2026 | Updated: 12:55, 14 July 2026 More than 500,000 British households have stopped paying the BBC licence fee in the past year - a far steeper decline than the corporation had expected. The falling number of people paying the £180-a-year levy, which went up by £5.50 in April, is listed as the BBC's greatest funding risk in its annual report released today. There are now 23.3 million TV licences in force across the UK - down by 540,000 in the past 12 months, figures published today reveal.  The annual drop is almost double that recorded a year earlier, when around 300,000 licences were lost.  The BBC's new director-general, Matt Brittin, has described the broadcaster as facing a 'moment of real jeopardy'. Suggesting reform is needed, he claimed the current licence fee funding model 'ties us to the past'. He said: 'The BBC has proved throughout its history how quickly it can reinvent itself to serve the needs of audiences. We need, collectively, to call on that sense of urgency now.' The collapse came as Culture Secretary Lisa Nandy backed extending the licence fee to cover people who only use streaming services such as Netflix. She denied it was a 'secret plot' and insisted nothing is set in stone. The BBC has seen its income fall by a quarter over the past decade. The TV licence fee generates approximately two-thirds of its £5.9billion annual income. Today's annual report said: 'Licences declined by almost 540k across the year, with 23.3 million in force at year end, with the decrease predominantly driven by a decline in households requiring a TV licence due to not consuming licensable content. 'Total households declaring "no licence needed" increased by 62,000 in 2025/26 to a total of 3.7 million households.' BBC Director General Matt Brittin, pictured in the Royal Box at Wimbledon with actress Hannah Waddingham, has said that the drop in people paying the licence fee is a 'moment of real jeopardy' for the corporation It came weeks after a Labour plot to impose the licence fee on households who only watch Netflix, Amazon Prime, Disney+ and Apple TV was branded 'outrageous'. You do not currently need a TV licence to binge watch shows such as Stranger Things on services like Netflix, The Boys on Amazon Prime or Slow Horses on Apple TV. It is only if homes stream live TV such as Champions League football or boxing via a streaming subscription they are required to pay the licence fee, which went up to £180 in April. Speaking to the Culture, Media and Sport Committee, Lisa Nandy said: '[The streamers] would be reluctant to see additional charges on their consumers, but I think they would be more reluctant to see additional charges on their businesses. 'We don’t want to deter investment to the UK. Some of the biggest streaming companies are here investing in very big numbers right across the country partly because of British creativity, partly because of the BBC but also because everyone is on the hunt for locally rooted stories with universal appeal and the UK is brilliant at that.' Critics say it would be a 'desperate' move by Keir Starmer's Government to make Britons pay the £180-a-year levy to fund the BBC, even if they only watch on-demand TV via a rival streamer. John O'Connell, chief executive of the TaxPayers' Alliance told the Daily Mail: 'Forcing streaming service subscribers to pay the licence fee would be an outrageous expansion of an already deeply unpopular tax'.  An expansion of the licence fee to cover subscribers to services such as Netflix is the preferred option for Labour, industry sources involved in the talks over its future from December 2027 say. 'It's pretty desperate to argue that everyone should be made to pay for the BBC whether they watch it or not', a streaming source with knowledge of negotiations said. 'The BBC needs to think more radically and creatively about how to generate income in ways that don't undermine universal access'. Currently people do not need a TV licence to watch 'on-demand' shows such as Stranger Things on services like Netflix - but Labor may change this Amazon Prime hits such as The Boys would also require a £180-a-year licence fee payment, despite not being live TV The Government is said to be wary of funding the BBC with advertising or a new subscription model because it would hurt ITV and Channel 4. Instead, a blanket approach, where the licence fee is expanded to cover all streaming platforms could be imposed when the current BBC charter ends in December 2027, according to a report in The Times. An industry source has said that ministers favour this 'expansive approach' to the licence fee over an advertising model. John O'Connell from the TaxPayers' Alliance said: 'In an age of endless viewing choice, taxpayers should not be compelled to fund the BBC simply because they own a screen or use a streaming service. 'Rather than dragging more people into the licence fee net, ministers should finally look at a fairer and more modern funding model and abolish the licence fee.' Culture secretary Lisa Nandy has previously said she would worry that a move from licence fee to a BBC subscription would hurt the Beeb's ability to 'unite the nation'.  She said: 'If you believe, as I do, that one of the greatest strengths of the BBC is its ability to unite the nation that has found multiple ways to divide itself, then I think you’ve got to be cautious about the use of subscriptions and paywalls.' The BBC declined to comment on The Times report, saying it was for the Department for Culture, Media and Sport.