The Government has announced that the National Living Wage, the minimum wage for workers aged 21 and over, is due to rise by 50p to £13.21 an hour from April 1, 2027. It accepted the Low Pay Commission’s (LPC) recommendations in full on October 28, 2026, the day of the Budget. The package also includes £11.27 for ages 18 to 20, £8.31 for ages 16 to 17 and £8.31 for apprentices.
These rates are announced and not yet law. The April 2026 rates were set by regulations, the National Minimum Wage (Amendment) Regulations 2026, and no regulations for 2027 were found when this page was checked on October 28, 2026. The rates in force today are the April 2026 ones, starting with £12.71 for ages 21 and over. We recommend building the announced figures into a test payroll now and keeping them marked provisional until the regulations are made.
All 5 changes on this pageIn date order, each with who it affects, what to do and the source
April 2026Passed2 changes
Current minimum wage rates apply
Wednesday, April 1, 2026. Hourly rates: age 21 and over £12.71, 18 to 20 £10.85, 16 to 17 £8.00, apprentice £8.00. The accommodation offset is £11.10 a day. The National Minimum Wage (Amendment) Regulations 2026 were made on March 19, 2026.
- Who
- Employers paying workers in the UK
- Do
- Check each worker's hourly pay against the rate for their age band or the apprentice rate, and check the daily figure for any accommodation you provide.
Fair Work Agency begins enforcing the minimum wage
Tuesday, April 7, 2026. GOV.UK says the Fair Work Agency began operating from this date and is now responsible for enforcing the National Minimum Wage.
- Who
- Employers paying workers at or near the minimum wage
- Do
- Check each worker's hourly pay against the rate for their age band and correct any underpayment. The FWA enforcement statement sets out penalties and naming.
October 2026Passed1 change
Government accepts the LPC's minimum wage recommendations in full
Wednesday, October 28, 2026, the day of the Budget. The Government said it accepted in full the Low Pay Commission's recommendations, submitted on October 23, 2026. The LPC advice letter was published the same day. No regulations putting the rates into law were found.
- Who
- Employers and payroll teams in the UK
- Do
- Plan payroll and budgets on the announced April 2027 rates, and keep them marked provisional until the regulations are made.
April 2027In 154 days2 changes
Accommodation offset rises to £11.53 a day (announced)
Thursday, April 1, 2027. The LPC recommends raising the accommodation offset by 43p to £11.53 a day, from £11.10; the Government accepted its recommendations. The LPC press release says only April 2027. No regulations were found, so the day in law is unconfirmed.
- Who
- Employers who provide accommodation to workers
- Do
- Update the daily accommodation figure in payroll on the same date as the hourly rates, once the regulations confirm it.
April 2027 minimum wage rates (announced)
Thursday, April 1, 2027. Hourly rates the Government accepted from the LPC: age 21 and over £13.21 (up 50p), 18 to 20 £11.27 (up 42p), 16 to 17 £8.31 (up 31p), apprentice £8.31 (up 31p). No regulations were found, so the legal day is unconfirmed.
- Who
- Employers paying workers in the UK
- Do
- Compare each worker's pay with the announced rate for their band on April 1, 2027 and cost the gap. Keep payroll tables provisional until the regulations are made.
Current and announced rates side by side
The hourly rows show pounds per hour. The last row shows pounds per day.
| Group | In force since April 1, 2026 | Announced for April 1, 2027 | Rise |
|---|---|---|---|
| Age 21 and over (National Living Wage) | £12.71 | £13.21 | 50p, 3.9% |
| Age 18 to 20 | £10.85 | £11.27 | 42p, 3.9% |
| Age 16 to 17 | £8.00 | £8.31 | 31p, 3.9% |
| Apprentice | £8.00 | £8.31 | 31p, 3.9% |
| Accommodation offset, per day | £11.10 | £11.53 | 43p, 3.9% |
The April 2026 figures come from the 2026 regulations, made on March 19, 2026. Those regulations took effect on April 1, 2026 and extend across the UK. The 2027 figures come from the LPC’s advice letter, published on October 28, 2026, which recommends that they apply from April 1, 2027, a Thursday. The LPC’s press release says the LPC submitted its recommendations to the Government on October 23, 2026.
GOV.UK’s rates page shows no last-updated date and calls the 16 to 17 column “Under 18”. As of October 28, 2026, the page shows an April 2027 row in the same table as the April 2026 row, under the heading “Current rates”. The April 2027 figures are announced and are not yet current.
Three details matter for the cost. First, the sources print 3.9% for every band, so cost the change from the pound rises in the table. Second, the LPC recommends pausing alignment of the 18 to 20 rate with the National Living Wage and raises it by the same 3.9% instead. At £11.27 against £13.21, the 18 to 20 rate stays at about 85.3% of the National Living Wage, against about 85.4% now. Third, the apprentice rate applies to apprentices aged under 19, and to those aged 19 or over in the first year of their apprenticeship.
The accommodation offset is a daily figure
If you provide accommodation, the offset is a separate daily figure. Regulation 16(1) of the National Minimum Wage Regulations 2015 holds it, and the 2026 amendment raised it from £10.66 to £11.10 for each day that accommodation is provided. The LPC recommends £11.53 from April 1, 2027, up 43p. The Government accepted its recommendations in full.
The GOV.UK rates page does not mention the offset, and neither does section 4.5 of the Budget 2026 document, so the LPC pages are the place to find the 2027 figure. We recommend updating the daily figure in payroll on the same date as the hourly rates.
What is law today and what has no date
The Budget 2026 document gives April 1, 2027 for the National Living Wage. The next sentence says the 18 to 20 rate “will also increase by 3.9% to £11.27 per hour”, which implies the same date without printing it. The LPC press release says only “April 2027”, while the Government’s remit of March 16, 2026 asked the LPC for rates “to come into effect on 1 April 2027”. The day that binds employers depends on regulations that were not found.
The LPC also says its 3.9% recommendation is below its best estimate of the rate needed to reach two thirds of median earnings by October 2027, which it puts at £13.44, or 5.7%. That figure is an LPC estimate, and the announced rate is £13.21.
| Item | What the sources say | Day |
|---|---|---|
| Regulations for the April 2027 rates | Not found. For comparison, the 2026 regulations were made on March 19, 2026 and came into force on April 1, 2026. | None found |
| LPC full annual report | To be laid before Parliament and published “in the new year”. | No day |
| Removing age bands for adults and aligning the 18 to 20 rate with the National Living Wage | The remit of March 16, 2026 says the Government “remains committed” to this and gives the LPC “full flexibility” on pace and timing. The LPC letter recommends pausing alignment and says the remit for younger workers “continues to state the Government’s desire” to lower the National Living Wage age to 18. | None; no law found |
| Fair Work Agency enforcement of holiday pay | Business.gov.uk says timing “is subject to the public consultation” and that holiday pay enforcement “will not start before April 2027”. It also says enforcement of statutory holiday pay “will start in 2027”. | No day |
Who enforces underpayment now
GOV.UK’s withdrawal notice says the Fair Work Agency (FWA) began operating on Tuesday, April 7, 2026 and is now responsible for enforcing the National Minimum Wage. Regulations made on March 16, 2026 (SI 2026/323) brought specified provisions of Part 5 of the Employment Rights Act 2025, on enforcement of labor market legislation, into force on April 7, 2026. The FWA’s enforcement statement says the FWA enforces labor market legislation in all four UK nations.
HMRC is involved in the work. The statement says the Secretary of State has arranged for HMRC officers to act as FWA enforcement officers for enforcing the minimum wage, and that HMRC operates the Notice of Underpayment model on behalf of the FWA.
The penalty for underpayment is 200% of the total underpayment, up to a maximum of £20,000 per worker. Where that amount would be under £100, a minimum penalty of £100 applies. The penalty falls by 50% if all of the unpaid wages and 50% of the penalty are paid in full within 14 days.
The statement says DBT (the Department for Business and Trade) considers cases for naming where total arrears were £500 or more. A lower threshold of more than £100 applies where the employer had another notice of underpayment in the previous 6 years, among other conditions. For the labor market legislation it enforces, the FWA considers referral for criminal prosecution in cases of serious, deliberate or persistent non-compliance, and it does not itself decide whether a prosecution is brought. The statement shows “Updated 26 August 2026”, so it predates the Budget.
What to do before April 1
The HM Treasury Budget press release says the uplift adds £910 to the gross annual earnings of a full-time worker on the National Living Wage. That figure implies 1,820 paid hours a year, or 35 hours a week over 52 weeks. For your own cost, multiply the rise by each person’s paid hours: 50p on 40 hours a week adds £20 a week in gross pay.
Check
- Each worker’s date of birth against the band that applies on April 1, 2027
- Which apprentices are under 19, or in the first year of their apprenticeship
- Payroll rate tables hold the announced rates as provisional until the regulations are made
- Accommodation deductions use the daily figure that applies on each date
- Job ads and contracts that quote a minimum wage rate, or a pay range that starts at the minimum
For the pay review side, read the cost next to Salary Increase Budgets 2027. The other UK dates for 2027 are in UK Employment Law Changes 2027 and UK Payroll and Tax Dates 2027, and the HR Compliance Calendar 2027 puts them beside the rest of your year.
What we could not confirm
- The regulations. None setting the April 2027 rates were found, so the start day in law is unconfirmed. The remit and the LPC advice letter give April 1, 2027, as does the Budget 2026 document.
- The LPC full annual report. The press release says “in the new year”, and no page read gives a day.
- Age bands. The remit says the Government remains committed to removing age bands for adults and aligning the 18 to 20 rate with the National Living Wage, and the LPC letter says the remit for younger workers continues to state a desire to lower the National Living Wage age to 18. None has a date, and no legislation was found.
- Budget-day changes to FWA penalties or naming. None were found in the Budget 2026 document or the LPC and Treasury press releases. The Budget PDF and its supporting tables, including the policy costings, were not read, so a line there on minimum wage enforcement is not ruled out.
- Holiday pay and statutory sick pay enforcement by the FWA. No day was found for either.
- The advice letter. It prints no date of its own, so its date here is that of the publication, October 28, 2026.
Start with a payroll export: list every worker paid below the announced rate for their band and cost the gap, then enter the total in the HR Budget Template 2027.
Written and reviewed by the HR Riant Editorial Team. General information, not legal advice.