Just 15p a week currently separates the full new state pension from the personal allowance. From April 2026, the pension rises to £241.30 a week (£12,547.60 a year), against a frozen £12,570 allowance.
Within a year, that £22 gap disappears. Under the triple lock, the pension is effectively certain to exceed the allowance by April 2027, which remains frozen until at least 2031. Lane Clark & Peacock confirmed this in 2024, noting even the 2.5% minimum increase would push it to about £12,578—above the threshold.
The Office for Budget Responsibility estimates the impact: 600,000 more pensioners paying income tax by 2026/27, rising to one million by 2030/31—figures largely overlooked.
The result is a deliberate policy mix: protecting pensions via the triple lock while pulling more retirees into the tax net through a frozen allowance.