Water companies announce average bill hikes for 2025-26

On behalf of water companies in England and Wales, Water UK has announced the average domestic bill for 2025-26 will rise by 26%, or £123 a year, to £603. Regional variations are shown in the tables.

The increase compares to the 36% average rise for the five years 2025-30 cited by Ofwat in its December final determinations, showing the cash impact for customers of adding inflation and front-loading the five-year price profile.

Water UK highlighted the hikes will be accompanied by a bumper support package worth £4.1bn, due to reach 3m households over five years, and that they will fund a record-breaking investment programme worth £20bn in 2025-26.

Meanwhile, Scottish Water announced a far more modest 9.9% average increase (£44) for 2025-26. This will apply to households and wholesale charges for business customers, and is in line with the price cap set by WICS (CPI+12.6% across 2021-27).

Scottish Water noted that 52% of Scotland’s 2.6m households receive some kind of help with their water charges.