Households to face average £86 hike to water bills next year alone
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Households in England and Wales will see their water bills increase by an “extortionate” average of £86 next year alone, as firms faced accusations of years of under-investment in their crumbling infrastructure. Regulator Ofwat said it will allow companies to raise average bills by £31 a year, or £157 in total, over the next five years to £597 by 2030 to help finance a £104 billion upgrade for the sector.
That represents a 36% increase before inflation, which will be added on top. However, despite the average £31 a year increase, households will be hit particularly hard from April with an average hike of £86 or 20% front-loaded into the coming year, with smaller percentage increases in each of the next four years.
Consumer groups warned that the increases were “more than what many people can afford”. Consumer Council for Water chief executive Mike Keil said: “These bill rises may be less than what water companies wanted but they are still more than what many people can afford.
“We know at least two in five households will find these increases difficult to afford but the support being offered by some water companies lacks ambition.”. Tom MacInnes, director of policy at Citizens Advice, said the price rises will “hit many households hard”.
Friends of the Earth accused Ofwat of “caving to pressure” from firms, leaving customers to “pick up the tab for decades of under-investment in our crumbling water infrastructure”. Sienna Somers, senior nature campaigner at the organisation, said: “Dirty water companies shouldn’t be able to rely on their customers to foot ever higher bills while they line the pockets of their shareholders and leave our rivers brimming with sewage.
