State Pension rates will rise by 3.9% from April 6, 2027, under the triple lock guarantee, giving new pensioners up to £488.80 extra per year. The uplift, confirmed in Budget documents, takes the full new State Pension to £250.70 per week.
New State Pension increase
The 3.9% boost, based on average wage growth between May and July the previous year, will take the full new State Pension from £241.30 per week to £250.70 per week in the 2027 to 2028 tax year. This is a weekly increase of £9.40, amounting to a maximum of £13,036.40 per year for those entitled to the full rate.
The rise applies to new state pensioners who reached State Pension age from April 6, 2016, when the qualifying age was set at 63 to 65. This later continued to rise to age 66, meaning new state pensioners will now all be aged under 77.
Basic State Pension uplift
The basic State Pension will also rise by 3.9%, taking the rate from £184.90 per week to £192.10 per week in the 2027 to 2028 tax year, a weekly increase of £7.20. This gives pensioners entitled to the maximum amount a total of £9,989.20 per year, a boost of £374.40 annually.
This rise applies to pensioners who get the old basic State Pension, which is given to men born before April 6, 1951, and women born before April 6, 1953. These figures are based on the maximum possible amount for those with a full qualifying National Insurance record, so those without enough qualifying years will receive less.
Tax implications and future changes
As the personal tax allowance has been frozen at £12,570 since 2021, the 3.9% uplift means some state pensioners will be caught within the tax net for the first time. The Government has already said pensioners who are wholly dependent on the new State Pension, with no private pension, or the old basic State Pension, with no increments, will not have to pay tax even if they exceed the threshold.
Prime Minister Andy Burnham has announced plans to scrap the triple lock in favour of a double lock system from April 2030, after which the State Pension will rise every year at least by prices or 2.5%, removing the link to average earnings. The savings from this change are to be used to build up the National Care Service. Adjusting the triple lock is estimated to reduce State Pension spending by £15 billion a year by the end of the 2030s, rising to £50 billion a year by 2050.
A Government spokesperson said: “We are committed to the triple lock for the rest of this Parliament, and the adjusted triple lock will build on the gains the policy has made for pensioners in raising the State Pension. This means the State Pension will always increase by at least the highest of 2.5%, CPI inflation or a new earnings link, so that the State Pension will never fall below its record high level when we adjust the current triple lock.”
