In the United Kingdom and the rest of the British Islands, any household watching or recording television transmissions at the same time they are being broadcast is required to hold a television licence. This applies regardless of transmission method, including terrestrial, satellite, cable, and internet streaming. It is also required for the viewing of on demand content on BBC iPlayer. The television licence is the instrument used to raise revenue to fund the BBC and S4C. Businesses, hospitals, schools and a range of other organisations are also required by law to hold television licences to watch and record live television broadcasts. The licence, originally a radio licence, was introduced in November 1923 using powers under the Wireless Telegraphy Act 1904, and cost 10 shillings per annum. The licence was extended to televisions at a cost of £2 in June 1946. The radio part was abolished in February 1971. In May 2016, the government's white paper announced that the licence fee would rise with inflation for the first five years of the Charter period, from 1 April 2017. The number of licences issued peaked at 26.2 million in 2018, and has declined every year since. In March 2024, there were 23.9 million licences, of which 3,600 (0.015%) were monochrome (black and white). In 2000, 212,000 homes in the UK had monochrome TV licences, but by 2019, this had declined significantly to 6,586 licences. In 2025, this figure had decreased further, to 3,600 black and white TV licences. Since 1 April 2026, the annual cost has been £180 for a colour licence and £60.50 for a black and white licence (with a 50% discount for legally blind people). Income from the licence is primarily used to fund the television, radio and online services of the BBC. The total income from licence fees was £3.83 billion in 2017–18, of which £655.3 million or 17.1% was provided by the UK Government through concessions for those over the age of 75 (this subsidy has now been phased out). Thus, the licence fee made up the bulk (75.7%) of the BBC's total income of £5.0627 billion in 2017–18.
Operation of the licensing system
Licence fee collection and use The television licence fee is collected by the BBC and primarily used to fund the radio, television and online services of the BBC itself. Licence fee collection is the responsibility of the BBC's Finance and Business division.
Although the money is raised for its own use and collected by the BBC itself, the BBC does not directly use the collected fees. The money received is first paid into the government's Consolidated Fund. It is subsequently included in the 'vote' for the Department for Culture, Media and Sport in that year's Appropriation Act, and passed back to the BBC for the running of the BBC's own services (free from commercial advertisements). The money also finances programming for S4C and the BBC World Service, and included the running costs of BBC Monitoring at Caversham until it was relocated to London and the property sold in May 2018.
Legal framework In 1991, the BBC assumed the role of television licensing authority with responsibility for the collection and enforcement of the licence fee. The BBC is authorised by the Communications Act 2003 to collect and enforce the television licence fee. Section 363 of the Act makes it against the law to install or use a television receiver to watch or record any television programmes as they are being broadcast without a television licence. Section 365 of the same Act requires the payment of the television licence fee to the BBC. The licence fee is formally set by the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport by the use of statutory instruments. The relevant statutory instruments are the Communications (Television Licensing) Regulations 2004 and amendments since that time such as the Communications (Television Licensing) (Amendment) Regulations 2010. As well as prescribing the fees, the regulations also define "television receiver" for the purposes of the law. For people living in the Channel Islands and Isle of Man, the television licensing law is extended to their areas by Orders in Council made by agreement with their own governments. As part of its enforcement regime, the BBC is authorised to carry out surveillance using powers defined by the Regulation of Investigatory Powers Act 2000 and the Regulation of Investigatory Powers (British Broadcasting Corporation) Order 2001. The BBC is permitted by the order to use surveillance equipment to detect unlicensed use of television receivers. As the public body responsible for issuing television licences, licensing information held by the BBC (and held on the BBC's behalf by television licensing contractors) is subject to the Freedom of Information Act 2000. The BBC withholds some information on licence enforcement using exemptions under the Act; in particular, under section 31, which permits the withholding of information on crime prevention grounds and under section 43(2), which allows the BBC to retain information judged commercially sensitive.
Reclassification as a tax In January 2006, the Office for National Statistics (ONS) changed the classification of the licence fee from a service charge to a tax. Explaining the change, the ONS said: "in line with the definition of a tax, the licence fee is a compulsory payment which is not paid solely for access to BBC services. A licence is required to receive ITV, Channel 4, Channel 5, satellite, or cable". A briefing paper from the House of Commons Library described the licence fee as a hypothecated tax (i.e. one raised for a particular defined purpose).
TV Licensing Management Team The TV Licence Management Team, which is part of the Finance and Business division of the BBC, oversees the television licensing system. The TV Licence Management Team is based in the BBC buildings at White City Place in London. The majority of television licensing administration and enforcement activities are carried out under contract by private companies. The TV Licence Management Team oversees the performance of the contractors.
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