Hats off to independent funeral booking website Funeralbooker for publishing their findings on the costs of funeral disbursements.
Funeral poverty shows no sign of abating as new data reveals the most expensive crematoria and cemeteries in the UK
Key points:
THE COST OF DYING CONTINUES TO RISE.
NEW DATA REVEALS THE SOUTH OF ENGLAND IS ONE OF THE MOST EXPENSIVE PLACES TO BE CREMATED OR BURIED IN THE UK.
MASSIVE INCREASE IN COSTS YEAR ON YEAR ASSOCIATED WITH LOCAL AUTHORITY OWNED CREMATORIA AND CEMETERIES.
Beckenham in Kent; Crawley and Chichester in West Sussex; Leatherhead in Surrey and Nuneaton in Warwickshire all tie for first place as the locations of the most expensive crematoria in the UK – with cremation costing a staggering £956.
The cheapest place to be cremated in the UK is the City of Belfast Crematorium, where it costs just £364.
Prices are set by local councils for public facilities or by private companies, like Dignity PLC, for the privately owned ones.
Around one third of the entire cost of a funeral is for cremation; around half if a burial is opted for.
They have collated the costs of every cemetery and crematorium for 2015 and 2016 and produced four data-sets with searchable maps.
When it comes to burial, London takes the top slot, with four cemeteries in Wandsworth all charging £4,561 apiece.
Northern Ireland again is the cheapest place in the UK to be buried.
There have also been massive, above-inflation rises in costs for both burial and cremation. At Crownhill crematorium in Milton Keynes, prices have risen by 29.7%, year on year. The crematorium is owned by the local authority, as are the other crematoria on the list with the largest price rises.
It’s the same story when it comes to burials. North Watford Cemetery in London tops the list with prices increasing by 49.1% this year compared to 2015.
“Cuts in council funding may mean that many councils are turning to crematoriums and cemeteries to balance the books – these price increases could be a hidden cost of austerity” said James Dunn, the co-founder of Funeralbooker.
FOR FULL DATA AND SEARCHABLE MAPS SEE:
2016 UK Burial Cost % increases from 2015
https://funeralbooker.com/resources/uk-burial-costs-rises-2016
https://funeralbooker.com/resources/uk-burial-costs-rises-2016
2016 UK Cremation Cost % increases from 2015
https://funeralbooker.com/resources/uk-cremation-costs-rises-2016
https://funeralbooker.com/resources/uk-cremation-costs-rises-2016
Sadly many local authorities see the bereaved as a valuable source of revenue.
We do know of one London crematorium charging less than £300 for an early morning cremation. Welcome news if you’re really short of money.
I have just been to the North East Surrey crematorium site and it shows a fee of £262 for a before 10am cremation. Lowest London fee I have found so far.
I dont understand the claim that expensive crems are local authority: if you actually look at the tables, 9 of the 10 most expensive crems are private (Dignity), and 9 of the ten cheapest are Local Authority…
Hi David, what was the name of the crematorium ?
Cheers
Allistair
Putney Vale.
Golders Green and St Marylebone both charge £310 for early funerals.
Interesting figures.
Noticed no mention of North Lanarkshire and their recent 40% increase in burial charges, I have emailed James Dunn with the details.
The cremation fee forms only 20% of the total funeral bill. The vast majority of local authority cemeteries are subsidised. What is the complete breakdown of costs ??