Thousands of households will see get a discount on their water bills this year. Yorkshire Water will give a reduction to 60,000 customers on its WaterSupport social tariff, which is available to low-income households. It comes after it was confirmed that water bills in the region will increase by an average of £135 (28.9%) in 2025/26 - the equivalent of around £11 per month. The utility provider offers two different bill reduction tariffs - Water Support, which reduces the bills of low-income households paying above average bills, and Water Sure, which caps bills at the average amount for those who claim income-based benefits and need to use extra water.
There are also three schemes to help pay customers pay off water bill debts: Resolve, Community Trust, and Direct Support. Over £375million will be reduced from bills and used to cut debts between 2025 and 2030. Customers can find details of financial support schemes and eligibility at on the Yorkshire Water website. Angie Markham-Nock, affordability strategy manager at Yorkshire Water, said: “The next five years are really important for us, for the environment, and for our customers, as we deliver an £8.3billion investment programme to help us meet expectations and regulatory requirements. We know that some of our customers are struggling with their bills, and will find increases to bills unmanageable, and this is why we’ve built additional financial support into our plans.”.
She added: “We would strongly encourage anybody who feels that they will be unable to manage the upcoming bill increases to take a look at the financial support schemes we have available on our website and get in touch with us, so that we can open the conversation and see what we can do for them.”. It comes after it was confirmd households in England and Wales will see an average £123 or 26% increase to their yearly water bill from April. The rise, confirmed by industry body Water UK, will take the average water and wastewater bill from £480 to £603 for the next year alone. This works out to be around an extra £10 a month, taking monthly bills from £40 to £50.
However millions of households face even bigger rises. Southern Water customers were told they would see a 47% increase, while Hafren Dyfrdwy and South West Water bills will rise by 32% and Thames Water bills will go up by 31%. Bournemouth Water customers will also see a 32% increase to their bills. Water UK chief executive David Henderson said: “We understand increasing bills is never welcome and, while we urgently need investment in our water and sewage infrastructure, we know that for many this increase will be difficult. Water companies will invest a record £20 billion in 2025-26 to support economic growth, build more homes, secure our water supplies and end sewage entering our rivers and seas.”.
