Fuel and travel costs are pushing prices up again
Thursday 5 November 2026
Inflation has risen to 3.1%, meaning everyday spending is getting more expensive just as household budgets are already under pressure.
Rent seeking
Trying to gain or protect an extra reward by securing an advantage, rather than by providing more or better goods or services.
What it means
A business or group may try to win a special privilege that lets it earn more without making anything better. Seeking that kind of extra reward is called rent seeking. For example, pushing for a rule designed mainly to keep rivals out could protect profits. The word “rent” here is economic rent, not a tenant's housing payment. Not every request for a rule or protection is rent seeking: a rule may solve a genuine problem, and its purpose and effects need to be examined.
Example
Imagine an established firm persuading officials to grant it an exclusive licence solely to block competitors, when no safety or service need calls for that restriction. It may gain extra income through rent seeking while customers lose choices.
Why it matters
It highlights a way time and money can be spent winning an advantage rather than improving what people get.
Related terms
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Barriers to entry
Obstacles that make it hard for a new business to start competing in a market.
Read more -
Economic rent
An earning above the amount needed to keep a person or resource in its current use.
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Market power
A business's ability to influence prices or conditions because customers or suppliers have limited alternatives.
Read more -
Monopoly
A market with only one seller of a particular good or service and no close alternative for buyers.
Read more
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News
Highlights from about the UK economy, the UK government and the UK public sector.
Mortgage relief will have to wait a little longer
Wednesday 4 November 2026
Interest rates are staying at 3.75%, so households with mortgages and other borrowing may have to wait longer for costs to come down.
Energy bills are going up as winter approaches
Wednesday 4 November 2026
A higher energy price cap means many households will be paying more to heat and power their homes during the colder months.
Guides and insights
Analysis
Clear, accessible analysis of the economic issues shaping everyday life
Living standards
What does a day’s work buy?
Comparing the cost of everyday life across generations, from bread and beer to buying a home.
Food & prices
The journey behind your grocery bill
How farming, energy, transport and supermarket competition shape the price on the shelf.
Prices & inflation
Inflation is falling. What happens next?
What slower price rises mean for wages, purchasing power and economic recovery.
Shared prosperity
What would shared prosperity look like?
Beyond GDP: how we could measure economic success through security, opportunity and living standards.
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