Bills to rise 6% in England and Wales to fund record investment and customer support

Average bills will rise by 6% from 1 April, the English and Welsh water industry has announced. The average annual combined bill for 2024-25 will increase by about £28 from £445 to £473, while the water-only bill see a more modest average increase of £10, from £214 to £224.

As usual, metering, usage and regional variation will dictate how individual customers are affected. For combined bills, Northumbrian is the cheapest region at an average of £422, with Wessex the highest priced at £548. Variations for water only charges are more pronounced; Wessex comes in at the highest priced service at £283, with Portsmouth at just £120.

All companies will put prices up except Welsh Water, whose combined bill will fall by around 1%. The company said this was due to penalties incurred for supply interruptions and leakage, during previous years.

Water UK highlighted that companies will invest a record £14.4bn in the year, and will support more than 2m customers through discounts and tariffs. Chief executive, David Henderson, said: “Up and down the country customers will see the results of this investment with more than 2,000km of pipes being repaired or replaced and more capacity to treat sewage than ever before.”

CCW called on other company owners to join Welsh Water, Severn Trent, Yorkshire Water, SES Water and United Utilities in funding more help out of their own pockets. “If water companies are serious about rebuilding trust in the sector they should use some of their profits to help people who cannot afford another bill rise,” said chief executive, Mike Keil.

Ofwat explained firms had held bills down through Covid and the cost of living crisis but “this year, some of that previously withheld revenue has been added to bills, taking the average to 6.1% or £27.40 a year,” said chief executive, David Black. “Even accounting for this increase, bills in real terms will be lower than they were in 2019/20.”

Much of the media and social media narrative on the story challenged higher prices, pointing to factors including that bill revenue from earlier years had been ‘squandered’  on excessive dividends and that customers would be "paying twice".

This narrative was fuelled by The Guardian’s coverage, a day before the bill announcement, of a private members’ club dinner in September for water company and regulator chairs at which the discussion reportedly focused on “how to quell public anger over bill rises and sewage spills”. The report cited regulatory capture and painted a picture of a culture of excess.