It's No Time To Die in Hounslow
Council proposing to increase charges relating to funerals and burial plots
Chiswick Cemetery. Picture: Dr Neil Clifton
Hounslow Council plans to make it more expensive to die at a time when the cost of living is booming.
Under budget plans due to be considered by the council, Hounslow is looking to increase the cost of some death-related charges.
From April, the council plans to charge an extra £2 to register a death on behalf of the deceased’s family, increasing the cost from £86 to £88.
It also plans to bill families £235 to arrange a funeral on their behalf, an increase of £4 from this year’s charge of £231.
The council wants to hike the cost for people living outside the borough who want to be buried in Hounslow.
The council plans to keep the cost of buying exclusive rights for burial the same for residents and non-residents. But if someone living outside the borough wants to extend those rights for another 20 years, after April they will be asked to pay £1,494 instead of the current £996. This is an increase of 50 per cent.
The council’s planned increase in death-related charges comes at a time when households across the country are facing pressure from higher costs of living.
A combination of increases in energy costs, extra food costs, inflation and a number of national tax hikes is pushing a large number of households towards financial hardship.
Hounslow Council is planning to keep many fees and charges the same from April, including fees for registering marriages, some forms of waste collection and parking ticket fines.
The changes to fees and charges will be considered by the council alongside budget plans for the upcoming year at a meeting on Tuesday, 1 March.
Amongst the budget plans, Hounslow Council is also expected to raise council tax in the borough by 2.99 per cent to cover rises in inflation and demand on council services.
Hounslow Council plans to make it more expensive to die at a time when the cost of living is booming.
Under budget plans due to be considered by the council, Hounslow is looking to increase the cost of some death-related charges.
From April, the council plans to charge an extra £2 to register a death on behalf of the deceased’s family, increasing the cost from £86 to £88.
It also plans to bill families £235 to arrange a funeral on their behalf, an increase of £4 from this year’s charge of £231.
The council wants to hike the cost for people living outside the borough who want to be buried in Hounslow.
The council plans to keep the cost of buying exclusive rights for burial the same for residents and non-residents. But if someone living outside the borough wants to extend those rights for another 20 years, after April they will be asked to pay £1,494 instead of the current £996. This is an increase of 50 per cent.
The council’s planned increase in death-related charges comes at a time when households across the country are facing pressure from higher costs of living.
A combination of increases in energy costs, extra food costs, inflation and a number of national tax hikes is pushing a large number of households towards financial hardship.
Hounslow Council is planning to keep many fees and charges the same from April, including fees for registering marriages, some forms of waste collection and parking ticket fines.
The changes to fees and charges will be considered by the council alongside budget plans for the upcoming year at a meeting on Tuesday, March 1.
Amongst the budget plans, Hounslow Council is also expected to raise council tax in the borough by 2.99 per cent to cover rises in inflation and demand on council services.
Lead for Finance and Corporate Services at Hounslow Council Shantanu Rajawat said: “Hounslow Council is committed to ensuring all fees and charges are fair and adjusted appropriately in order to maintain essential services – often they are way below the rate of inflation and those of other local authorities.
“We are not increasing charges for families to register a death or bury their loved ones. These increased charges are for a Public Health funeral. The Council is required by law to register the death and bury anyone who dies within the borough where there is no known next of kin. These fees are taken from the deceased’s estate only if the funds are available.
“Our non-resident burial fee was previously recorded incorrectly, this has now been amended for the new financial year. It is common for Local Authorities across the country to charge more for non-residents burials to help protect the limited space and resources available within cemeteries for residents to be buried in the borough they lived in.”
Lisa Haseldine - Local Democracy Reporter
February 11, 2022