Millions of households to be hit with water bill rises of £31 a year as firms hike rates by up to 36%
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MILLIONS of water customers will see their bills rise 36% by 2030, the regulator has confirmed. Average water bills currently stand at £448 but will increase to £479 next Spring. The biggest rise is by Southern Water, which would see bills for its customers in Kent, Sussex, Hampshire rise by £642 between now and 2030.
![[Ofwat shared revealed the figures to customers this morning.]](https://www.thesun.co.uk/wp-content/uploads/2022/06/NINTCHDBPICT000730594661.jpg?strip=all&w=960)
Ofwat warned in July that bills would increase by an average of £19 a year between 2025 and 2030. The regulator said this rise was a third less than the increase requested by water companies, which had proposed an average increase of £144 over the next five years.
Today's hikes come as part of Ofwat's 2024 Price Review (PR24) which covers the period from April 1, 2025, to March 31, 2030. It sets limits on what companies can charge their customers for water to cover the cost of repairs to the network. Proposals for what these rises could look like were published earlier this year and the final plans have been confirmed this morning.
It comes as water companies face criticism over record levels of sewage discharged into rivers and seas despite huge profits. At the beginning of October, water companies were ordered to return £157.6million to customers after failing to meet pollution targets.
Each year, Ofwat evaluates the performance of England and Wales' 17 largest water and wastewater companies against key targets, including sewer flooding, supply interruptions, and water leaks. For the second consecutive year, no company attained the highest rating, although four companies demonstrated improvement compared to the previous year.
