2.9 per cent. That is how much UK consumer prices rose in the 12 months to July 2026, according to the ONS release on 19 August. If your day rate has not moved in that time, you took a pay cut and nobody told you.
Most freelancers know this and still do not raise rates, because the mechanics are uncomfortable. Who do you tell, when, by how much, and what happens if the good client says no?
This is about raising an existing rate. If you have never built one from your costs and target income, start with how to set a freelance day rate in the UK, a rise from a number you invented in 2023 is guesswork with extra steps.
Holding your rate is a decision, not neutrality
Freelancers talk about “raising rates” as an active step and holding steady as the safe default. It is the other way round. Your costs move whether you act or not: software subscriptions, insurance renewals, accountant fees, the rent.
An inflation-matching rise is not a rise. It is maintenance. A real rise is what you add on top, and you earn that with capability, not with the calendar.
Six signals you are underpriced
None of these is decisive alone. Three at once and you have your answer.
- Nobody flinches. If no prospect in six months has said the price is high, your price is not high. A healthy rate loses some work.
- You are booked out weeks ahead. Demand exceeding supply is the textbook case for a price rise, and it is the one freelancers most reliably ignore.
- The work has changed. You are doing strategy on a rate you set for execution. Very common, and very expensive.
- New clients say yes instantly. Immediate acceptance from strangers means you are underpriced for the market, not that you are charming.
- You resent a specific client. Resentment is usually a price signal wearing an emotional costume.
- Your rate is older than your best case study. If your portfolio has improved and your number has not, the gap is money.
How much to raise by
There is no correct percentage, but there are recognisable situations. The figures below are my judgement about what tends to hold, not a survey finding.
| Situation | Typical rise | Why |
|---|---|---|
| Annual maintenance, nothing else changed | Around inflation, so 3% now | Keeps you level. Rarely questioned |
| Two or more years without a rise | 8–12% | Catching up on compounding you skipped |
| Skills or scope have moved up | 15–25% | You are selling a different service |
| Fully booked, turning work away | 20%+, on new clients first | The market is telling you the price is wrong |
| Client is unprofitable after real time tracking | Whatever the maths requires | A rise that still loses money is not a rise |
One structural point that gets missed. A 10 per cent rise on a full book is a 10 per cent rise in profit, near enough, because your costs barely move. That is why a modest-sounding increase changes your year so much more than winning one extra client does.
Raise the new-client rate first and live with it for a couple of months. If prospects still convert, you have evidence to take to existing clients, and you will believe it yourself, which matters more than it should.
How much notice to give
Check your contract first. Some retainers specify a notice period for price changes, and if yours does, that governs.
Where nothing is specified, my working rule is 60 days for monthly retainers and one project cycle for project work. Sixty days gives a client time to budget, which is the actual objection behind most pushback. It also lands before the January and April planning seasons when budgets are set.
Never apply a new rate to work already quoted. If a proposal is out at the old price, honour it. That is what proposal expiry dates are for.
Telling existing clients
Email, not a phone call. A call invites negotiation in the moment; an email lets them process it and reply with a decision. Short, dated, no apology, no essay about your costs.
Hi Tom, a quick note on rates for next year. From 1 November my day rate moves from £450 to £495. Work already booked or quoted before then stays at the current rate, so the October project is unaffected. Everything else about how we work together stays the same. Happy to talk it through if useful.
What that email does not contain is instructive. No justification. The moment you explain that your insurance renewal went up, you have invited a debate about whether your insurance renewal is their problem. It is not. The rate is the rate.
Send them individually. A round-robin about a price rise reads as a company announcement, which is exactly the wrong register for someone you have worked with for three years.
Handling pushback
Expect some. In my experience most of it is procedural rather than hostile, a budget cycle problem dressed as an objection.
| What they say | What to say back |
|---|---|
| “Budget’s already set for the year” | “Understood. I can hold the current rate until your new financial year starts in April, then move to £495 from then.” |
| “That’s a big jump” | “It is: the rate hasn’t moved since 2023, so it’s catching up rather than a one-year increase.” |
| “Can you do anything on price?” | “I can, if we change something. At £450 I’d need to move to two revision rounds rather than unlimited.” |
| “We’ll have to look at alternatives” | “That’s fair enough. I’d be glad to hand over cleanly if you do, and the door stays open.” |
| Silence, then the work stops | Nothing. Follow up once, then move on |
The third row is the important one. Never discount without removing something. A price cut with no change in scope teaches the client that your prices are opening positions, and every future quote gets tested.
Losing a client to a rate rise is not automatically a failure. Losing your two lowest-paying clients and replacing them with one at the new rate is a better year with fewer emails in it.
Who to raise, and in what order
Sequencing reduces the risk considerably.
- New enquiries. Immediately, with no announcement to anyone.
- Your worst-fit existing client. If they leave, you have capacity for a better-paying one, so the downside is limited.
- The mid-tier. By this point you have a track record of the new rate being accepted.
- Your best client, last. They are usually the most likely to say yes, and the one you least want to test early.
Spread it over a quarter rather than doing everyone in one week. If several clients leave at once your income gap arrives all at once too, and irregular income is hard enough to manage without self-inflicted cliffs, budgeting on an irregular freelance income covers building the buffer that makes this survivable.
What a rate rise does to your tax bill
Two things catch a lot of people in the year after a successful increase.
The first is VAT. Registration is compulsory once taxable turnover passes £90,000 in any rolling 12-month period, and a 20 per cent rise can take you there faster than the calendar suggests. For business clients who reclaim it, VAT is neutral; for consumers and exempt organisations, it is a real 20 per cent increase on top of your rise. Read how the £90,000 VAT registration threshold works before you get close, not after.
The second is payments on account. HMRC asks for these by 31 January and 31 July, each one half of the tax you owed the previous year, unless last year’s bill was under £1,000 or more than 80 per cent of your tax was deducted at source. In a year your income jumps, the January bill can include the balancing payment for the higher year plus a payment on account calculated on it. The detail is in payments on account explained. Set the extra aside as it arrives.
Common questions
How often should freelancers raise their rates?
Review annually and put the date in the diary. Reviewing does not oblige you to move, but freelancers who never look up are the ones who discover a five-year-old rate.
How much notice should I give a client before raising my rate?
Whatever the contract says. Absent a clause, 60 days for retainers and one project cycle for project work is reasonable and gives the client time to move budget.
Should I explain why I am raising my rates?
No. Justification invites negotiation about the justification. State the new rate, the date it starts, and what is unaffected. Suppliers raise prices constantly without writing anyone an explanation.
What if a client refuses the new rate?
Offer a delayed start date, or a reduced scope at the old price. If neither works, plan the handover properly and stay on good terms. Clients who left over price have a habit of returning at the new one.
Can I raise rates mid-project?
Not on agreed work: that is a quoted price and you should honour it. If the project has expanded well beyond what you quoted, that is a change request at the current rate, which is a different conversation.
Is an inflation-linked increase easier to sell?
Usually, yes, because it sounds objective and clients understand it. It also caps you at standing still. Use it for the annual maintenance rise and make the case separately when your work has moved up a level.
Still writing every document from scratch?
Freelance Ops Playbook. Ten modules and eighteen templates: the rate floor calculation, a pipeline that rejects bad clients early, the twelve-clause contract, onboarding, change orders and a Friday rhythm that holds it together.
- The rate floor calculator, which most people find puts their current rate below cost
- The twelve-clause contract, including the revisions sentence that quietly earns more than any other
- Enquiry log with live pipeline value, thirteen-week cash forecast, three-option proposal, change order, welcome pack
One under-scoped project, or one client who “just needs a couple more rounds”, costs more than this playbook several times over. The templates exist so that never happens again.
Buying more than one? The Complete Freelancer System, all five for £87, against £215 at full price.
Keep reading
- How to Set Your Freelance Day Rate in the UK
- How to Budget With Irregular Income as a Freelancer
- VAT Registration Threshold: The £90,000 Rule
Sources
- ONS: Consumer price inflation, UK: July 2026 (CPI 2.9%, released 19 August 2026) (checked 27 August 2026)
- GOV.UK: VAT registration: when to register (£90,000 threshold) (checked 27 August 2026)
- GOV.UK: Understand your Self Assessment tax bill: payments on account (checked 27 August 2026)