Chart showing rising cost of owning a carAre you changing your motoring habits because of costs and Labour policy? Email us at money@telegraph.co.uk*"Driving is not a luxury", Tory backbencher Greg Smith told the House of Commons last month in a debate about contentious clean air zones."It is a freedom and a right that all of our constituents should be able to enjoy unencumbered by the state, whether national or local. A weekly shop for a family of five cannot be carried on the back of a bike."Twenty years ago there would have been no debate. But in Britain's today, driving even modest cars has become a luxury increasingly out of reach of ordinary people.AdvertisementAdvertisementIndeed, the top specification – yet still very humble – Vauxhall Astra is close to hitting the "expensive car supplement", better known as the luxury car tax.So, how did we get here? Will a generation of young people never get their own set of wheels? And what consequences will this have?The average price of a new car has risen from £18,000 in 2016 to £34,000 in 2026, an increase of 89pc, according to analysis by ALA Insurance. During the same period, wages have risen by just 35pc.In practical terms, the average new car represented around 33 weeks of gross pay for a typical UK worker in 2016. Now it equates to 47 weeks' salary before tax.AdvertisementAdvertisementIt's a similar story in whichever aspect of car ownership you delve into. While insurance costs have fallen since the highs of 2023, they are beginning to creep back up. At the same time, fuel prices have jumped this year – filling up a 60-litre tank one year ago would typically have cost £80, but today it costs £90.The expense is already having an effect on family life. A survey by CarMoney found that 14pc of shoppers have ditched driving to their usual large supermarket for a weekly big shop because of the cost of car ownership. Instead, they are stocking up from smaller local stores.It's a tactic that makes perfect sense when faced with the stark reality of running a car: the average cost of annual ownership now exceeds £11,500, according to ALA Insurance. Ten years ago, the annual sum was £6,500.For those who can afford to secure a new car, doing so on a finance deal comes with hefty interest rates, while those buying outright potentially face a stealth tax hit.AdvertisementAdvertisementMore than 420,000 drivers were dragged into paying luxury vehicle tax – known as the expensive car supplement – last year thanks to frozen thresholds. This is a 42pc increase on the 299,000 who paid it two years ago.The expensive car supplement, which costs £2,125 over the course of five years, is triggered if a petrol, diesel or hybrid car is bought for more than £40,000. With the average new petrol car costing £43,405, purchasers are regularly having to fork out on the added tax.While the threshold was raised in April to £50,000 for electric cars, there was no such treatment for vehicles using other fuel types. It means an increasing number of run-of-the-mill cars, such as the Volkswagen Passat, fall into the tax trap.As for used cars, the average secondhand motor sells for £17,855 compared with £12,000 10 year ago, according to ALA Insurance.A disguised reprieveSince 2023, when insurance premiums were at a record high, the cost of insuring a car has remained steady. The average cost of car insurance in the UK is now £719 – £8 more expensive than three months ago, according to Confused.com – but this is the first real increase since the end of 2023.AdvertisementAdvertisementInsurers have adapted to surging costs of payouts, with the average paid claim jumping from £3,842 to £5,464 in five years. While fewer accidents are being reported, payouts are considerably more because of the cost of repairs and the technological components of modern cars.Once you have your set of wheels and a decent insurance policy, there's then the cost of getting your car moving. Fuel prices are down from the onset of the Iran war, but are still eye-wateringly high. RAC figures show the average cost of a litre of unleaded is 151p, while diesel is significantly higher at 167p.To help ease the burden, Rachel Reeves has pushed back a planned increase to fuel duty."I know that the war in Iran has been pushing up prices, but I'm stepping in to help protect people at the pump," the Chancellor said.AdvertisementAdvertisementIn reality, however, Labour's self-hailed reprieve for drivers is just a three-month delay to a planned increase. Unlike a host of other countries, there was no "cut" to the tax and an additional burden will be imposed on motorists from 2027.For the time being, fuel duty will remain at 52.95p per litre. Previously, it had been planned to increase by 1p per litre on Sept 1, with a pair of 2p per litre rises on Dec 1 and then March 1 next year. Instead a 3pc rise will kick in from January, followed by a further 2p jump in March.Away from the day-to-day running of the car, the time it spends idle comes with ever-rising costs. Local authorities across the country are now increasingly reliant on revenue from motorists.Drivers spent a record £2.3bn in council car parks in England last year, according to official data compiled by the AA, up from £2.1bn the year before. Councils have made £1.2bn in profit from running them, according to the AA, with parking becoming a "full-on local tax" for many councils.AdvertisementAdvertisementCertain vehicle types are also being targeted as easy pickings for councils. Cardiff became the first UK city to agree on an SUV tax, with residential parking permits costing more for bulkier vehicles, while Bath and North East Somerset council is mulling similar measures.In London, a host of councils determine the price of permits based on emissions and have introduced a surcharge for households with more than one resident permit.In Lambeth, a resident with a diesel car has to cough up an additional £275 a year for their permit. As a result, a parking pass for a diesel BMW X5 would cost around £730 a year, while the fee for an electric car would be £136.Intentional disincentives"Labour is on the side of drivers", Sir Keir Starmer's party posted on social media last month.AdvertisementAdvertisementIt's the same mantra which Labour has tried to push through during its two years in government, but it has not landed. Whether it be Reeves getting heckled at a petrol station, backlash over pay-per-mile or the ever-worsening condition of our roads, the Government has failed to get on the side of drivers.There is a burgeoning sense among the everyday driver that they are not wanted. A round-table discussion hosted by the Government's chief scientific officer last year explored ways to "encourage green choices".It found that "more young people are not driving because of a range of disincentives, particularly financial". With the sky-high costs of learning to drive and insuring their first car, this is clearly true. Yet rather than finding ways to alleviate the costs, meeting notes from the discussion suggested more could be done to discourage driving."Young people expect to start driving when they overcome the cost barrier," the report reads. "A well-timed intervention involving incentives and disincentives can prevent this transition."AdvertisementAdvertisementNo further details on how to stop this transition into vehicle ownership were explored and the Government stressed that views of the round table were not statements of policy. Yet talk of incentives and disincentives to influence behaviour has never been far from the agenda.Meanwhile, the ever-growing spread of low-traffic neighbourhoods (LTNs) and clean air zones to encourage drivers to switch to electric is set to continue in the years ahead.Clean air and low-emission zones across the UK raised more than £250m last year through fines and charges for non-compliant vehicles. Figures compiled by What Car? show that £147m came from drivers paying daily fees to enter green zones, while a further £103m was generated through fines.Labour quietly dropped the previous Conservative government's plans to limit new LTNs and 20mph zones as a result of concerns that councils were forcing through new LTNs on the back of support from environmental and pro-cycling groups.AdvertisementAdvertisementThe reforms would have curbed council powers to restrict traffic and levy fines. However, the changes were ditched by Labour because they "would have made no positive difference for drivers". It also emerged in November that the Government dropped future investigations into the impact of LTNs on local areas.The Government is unlikely to take its foot off this particular pedal any time soon: a likely Andy Burnham premiership brings with it the prospect of more future clean air zones. The former mayor of Greater Manchester has previously been accused of a "flagrant misuse" of taxpayer money on preparations for an Ultra Low Emission Zone (Ulez)-style scheme for Greater Manchester that ended up being scrapped following a backlash from drivers.The project planned to charge polluting vans, lorries and other commercial vehicles up to £60 a day. While the scheme failed to get off the ground, it is a warning sign of Burnham's willingness to target emissions through regulation.Should the Makerfield MP come into office, he will oversee the transition to pay-per-mile charges for electric and plug-in hybrids (PHEVs). The former will pay 3p for each mile and the latter 1.5p from 2028.Last year the Treasury, in justifying the policy, said PHEV motorists drove "more or less than 50pc in electric mode". But analysis quietly published by the Department for Transport in April revealed that the Government had overestimated the number of miles plug-in hybrid owners covered with battery power."Evidence indicates that PHEVs complete a smaller proportion of their journeys in electric mode than previously assumed," the document on fuel efficiency read.Parking for Labour's '1.5 million homes'Rural councils are buckling under the pressure of cuts to road repair budgets. Labour caused an outcry in November 2024 when it abolished the £110m Rural Services Delivery Grant, a funding boost given to rural councils to help carry out essential services. It instead "repurposed" funding, redirecting it to deprived urban areas.This has left councils such as Devon with significantly reduced budgets for road repairs such as potholes – a reality which councillors warn has made it "impossible" to keep on top of required work.Britain's crumbling roads put drivers at greater risk of pothole damage to their cars – 1 million potholes were reported last year, according to Confused.com. But the soaring cost of garage bills has meant a growing number of motorists continue to drive damaged cars. Seven in 10 garages told the Motor Ombudsman that they expected drivers to skip vital repairs to their vehicles in 2026 in an effort to save money – a 20pc jump from 2024.Britain is undergoing a fundamental shift in how we view car ownership. There is evidence that the rising cost of a new car is forcing households to hold on to their vehicles for longer. The average age of a car in the UK is now close to 10 years – a hefty jump from seven-and-a-half years just a decade ago.Car insurance provider Tempcover found that 56pc of motorists are keeping their current vehicle longer than planned.The two-car household is also in decline, with government figures showing the share of homes with more than one car now at 34pc, down from 36pc before the pandemic.Paul Gilshan, of Tempcover, said: "The car is more of a shared resource rather than a personal fixture, and that mindset is only going to grow."The Government is attempting to lock in this cultural shift in its proposed overhaul of England's national planning policy framework. Hailed as the "biggest rewrite" of the planning rulebook in a decade, the framework signals a clear, state-backed push toward a less car-dependent future. For example, the dedicated parking space outside your front door is set to become a relic of the past.Labour has set itself a target to deliver 1.5 million new homes, but under the plans, councils will be required to impose sweeping parking restrictions on new housing developments, limiting the number of new vehicle spaces built.For the Alliance of British Drivers, the "war on the motorist" shows little sign of slowing. "It'll get to the point where roads are for the rich," says Brian Macdowell, of the campaign group."We've had a long history of political parties treating us as a cash cow and introducing newly created offences and penalties on car ownership. These do nothing to improve road safety; they are just to extract as much money from us as possible."Hopes of a future where we are less reliant on the car have been discussed by political leaders for decades. But that future is close to becoming the present should the exploitation of drivers continue to shift through the gears.*By submitting your content to us, you are consenting to The Telegraph processing your personal data where required by law. For further details, please see our Privacy Notice.Try full access to The Telegraph free today. Unlock their award-winning website and essential news app, plus useful tools and expert guides for your money, health and holidays.