The cost of living may be rising but the cost of dying is rising even faster, a national survey has found.
When it comes to being buried though, Brighton and Hove comes out as one of the cheapest places in the country.
A single adult plot costs £669 from Brighton and Hove City Council compared with £4,950 in Lambeth, the most expensive, and £3,908 in Croydon.
And in Worthing, where some wags say funerals are big business, a plot costs £1,565.
The price there has risen £442 in the past two years – or 39 per cent – among the top 20 increases.
And the cost of a burial plot is in addition to the average £3,500 cost of a funeral.
The figures were published in The Sun which contacted every council in England.
The newspaper said that some councils had more than doubled charges over the past two years with the average rise of £218 equating to 16 per cent.
It said that many councils admitted that they were targeting the grief-stricken to help balance their books.
The Sun quoted Local Government Minister Bob Neill saying: “This is an utterly cynical and despicable move by councils taking advantage of people at their most vulnerable.”
And it quoted the Taxpayers’ Alliance saying: “It’s a stealth tax on the dead.”
But one Hove resident said: “It can be seen as a stealth tax on the dead but of course in reality it’s a stealth tax on the bereaved.
“In most cases it’s the grieving relatives who are hit with a huge bill.
“And it’s not easy to say the cost of a grave is too expensive in Brighton and Hove so we’ll hold the funeral somewhere else.
“Fortunately the council here has kept things reasonable and we’ve got good cemeteries and crematorium chapels too.
“It’s drivers who are paying through the nose here with the shocking price of parking – especially in the car parks.
“Mind you, parking charges have gone up so much it’s enough to give you a heart attack so we’re back to funerals anyway!”
The charges in Brighton and Hove are doubled for those coming from outside the city and £669 buys exclusive use of a single adult plot for 50 years.
