How UK funerals have changed over the past decade

How UK funerals have changed over the past decade

17th September 2026 by Mears Family Funerals  

Greater personal choice, the growth of direct cremation and stronger consumer protection are reshaping how families say goodbye.

Over the past ten years, funerals in the United Kingdom have become more varied. Families have greater scope to decide where remembrance takes place, who attends and how a ceremony reflects the person who has died.

The changes extend beyond the service itself. The pandemic disrupted established rituals, financial pressures sharpened questions about affordability, and regulatory intervention changed expectations around pricing and prepaid funeral plans.

Yet there is no single national direction of travel. Religious beliefs, local customs and differences between the four UK nations remain significant.

The growth of direct cremation

Perhaps the most consequential development is the increasing separation of cremation from the gathering to remember someone.

SunLife’s survey series estimates that direct cremation accounted for 3% of funerals in 2019, rising to 21% in its 2025 research. These are survey findings, rather than a complete count of UK funerals. [Source: SunLife’s Cost of Dying Report 2026].

An unattended cremation allows families to arrange a separate memorial event at another time and place. That can offer flexibility, particularly where relatives live far apart or the deceased wanted a simpler arrangement.

However, attending the funeral with the coffin present remains important to many people. Choosing direct cremation requires a clear understanding of what the service includes and which opportunities to say goodbye it removes.

Conventional attended funerals remain central to the sector. The Competition and Markets Authority found that 87% of funerals provided by businesses with ten or more branches were attended in the year ending August 2024. That sample differs from SunLife’s, so the figures should not be treated as directly comparable. [Source: CMA’s Funerals Market Review 2025].

More personal ceremonies

Families increasingly expect a funeral to reflect an individual life.

Co-op’s 2024 research found that 68% of respondents believed funerals were becoming more of a celebration of life, compared with 58% in its 2019 study. Its funeral directors also reported increased demand for more individual services and ceremonies outside traditional religious settings. [Source: Co-op’s Trending Tributes research].

Music, readings, clothing and venues can all help families express something distinctive about the person they have lost.

Personalisation also sits comfortably alongside faith and tradition. A religious funeral can include deeply individual tributes, while a secular ceremony can retain formal dress, a hearse and familiar rituals. Families often combine elements that feel meaningful to them.

The pandemic changed participation

COVID-19 restrictions disrupted the ability to gather, travel and support one another in person. Livestreaming helped relatives and friends participate when they could not attend, while families found alternative ways to acknowledge a death. [Source: Co-op’s A Nation in Mourning report].

Those experiences also demonstrated the importance of collective mourning. Arrangements made under restrictions should not automatically be interpreted as the choices families would otherwise have made.

Research by Cardiff and Bristol universities identified associations between prolonged grief and circumstances including unexpected deaths, loneliness and inadequate social support. It does not establish that one funeral format causes or prevents difficult grief. [Source: University of Bristol].

Digital participation offers a valuable additional route into remembrance. Its usefulness depends on the needs of the family and the quality of the experience.

Affordability remains a central concern

SunLife’s 2025 research reported average costs of £4,510 for a traditional attended funeral, £3,828 for a simple attended funeral and £1,628 for direct cremation.

These represent different service categories. Additional expenditure on a gathering or memorial can increase the overall amount a family spends. Historical comparisons also need care because survey definitions and weighting have changed. [Source: SunLife’s Cost of Dying Report 2026].

The professional responsibility is to help families understand the full cost of their choices. That means explaining inclusions, exclusions and alternatives clearly, without assuming that expenditure measures affection or respect.

Consumer protection has strengthened

Since September 2021, CMA requirements have obliged funeral directors to display standardised prices, giving families a more consistent basis for comparison. [Source: CMA guidance].

In July 2022, the Financial Conduct Authority began regulating prepaid funeral plans. The regime introduced stronger rules around sales and products, alongside access to ombudsman and compensation protections where applicable. [Source: FCA].

Oversight of care has developed differently across the UK. Scotland introduced its statutory Funeral Director Code of Practice and inspection regulations in March 2025. In September 2026, the UK Government committed to developing further proposals for funeral-sector regulation following serious failures and the Fuller Inquiry. That announcement represented a commitment to reform, rather than an inspection system already in operation. [Sources: Scottish Government].

What the next decade requires

The direction is towards greater choice, supported by clearer information and stronger expectations of accountability.

Emerging methods are also entering the regulatory framework. Scotland’s hydrolysis regulations took effect in March 2026, while the Law Commission recommended a framework for new funerary methods in England and Wales in June. Legal frameworks, recommendations and local availability remain distinct considerations. [Sources: Scottish Government] and [Law Commission].

For funeral professionals, the challenge is to make increasingly varied choices understandable and trustworthy. Families need confidence about who will care for their loved one, what they are paying for and how their wishes will be respected.

Whatever form a funeral takes, dignity, compassionate care and meaningful opportunities to remember remain the standards that matter.

Based on published evidence available on 16 September 2026. Survey findings reflect their respective samples and definitions; full-year 2026 figures are not yet available.

Download a copy of our report.