The areas where water bills are set to increase the most ...Middle East

Household water bills across England and Wales are set to rise by an average of 5.4% from April, equating to £33 a year per household.

The rise is two percentage points above inflation, but there is significant regional variation in the increases, with some areas warned they will see bills increase by up to 13 per cent.

It comes as companies prepare to invest £20bn over the next year to secure water supplies and end sewage entering rivers and seas.

But it also comes amid ongoing public anger over water pollution and disruption to supplies.

The Consumer Council for Water (CCW) warned that customers were “impatient for change and need to see compelling evidence their money is being well spent”.

It also said it had seen a 51% increase in complaints about water companies in 2025, mainly driven by concerns around affordability and upset over the scale of last April’s increase.

Ofwat allowed water firms to put up bills by 36% between 2025 and 2030, with most of that – 20% or an average £86 – front-loaded on to last April’s annual rise.

The biggest hike percentage-wise is a 13 per cent rise for Affinity Water central region customers, which includes parts of Buckinghamshire, Bedfordshire, Essex, Hertfordshire and Surrey.

Bristol Water customers will see a 12 per cent rise, while Sutton and East Surrey is imposing an 11% increase, and Severn Trent customers will be seeing a 10% jump.

South East Water customers will also see an above-average rise, with bills going up by an average of 7% to £324.

Earlier this month its customers in towns across Kent and West Sussex suffered repeated water outages, after Storm Goretti was blamed for causing burst pipes and power cuts.

At the end of last year, around 24,000 people in Tunbridge Wells were also left without drinking water for two weeks, after a “bad batch” of chemicals was used at one of South East Water’s treatment plants.

Some business owners in Kent recently told The i Paper they faced a “nightmare” after water cuts caused them to be out of pocket – with compensation not covering their losses.

Water UK said the cash raised from water bills could only be used to fund infrastructure that had been independently determined to be “new, necessary and value for money”.

A money-back guarantee meant that customer bills would automatically be refunded by the regulator if improvements were not delivered, it said.

Campaigners have voiced scepticism about future investment.

Rob Abrams, campaign manager at Surfers Against Sewage, said: “Nearly a third of our water bills are swallowed up servicing the water company debt pile and shelling out dividends whilst we get sick from sewage.

“So why should we believe this time will be any different?

“This broken system rewards greed and failure, and the only solution is a full system reset to put people and planet first. Nothing less will do.”

River Action chief executive James Wallace said: “When the water sector brags about ‘record investment’, what it really means is that bill payers, not water companies, are being forced to pick up the tab for decades of failure.

“The privatised, pollution-for-profit model has failed. Until water companies are owned and governed for public and environmental benefit, using long-term patient capital, we will keep seeing regulatory failure and polluted rivers.”

More than two million households currently receive help with their bills through social tariffs, the WaterSure scheme and other affordability measures, and this will expand by an expected extra 300,000 households over the coming year.

Water UK chief executive David Henderson said: “We understand increasing bills is never welcome, but the money is needed to fund vital upgrades to secure our water supplies, support economic growth and end sewage entering our rivers and seas.

“While we urgently need investment in our water and sewage infrastructure, we know that for many this increase will be difficult. That is why we will help around 2.5 million households – more than ever before – with average discounts of around 40% off their water bill.”

CCW chief executive Mike Keil said: “We’ve seen complaints brought to CCW about the affordability of water bills almost triple in the past year and further bill rises will compound people’s worries.

“People support investment in improving services, but they are impatient for change and need to see compelling evidence their money is being well spent.”

He added: ” code lottery of financial assistance created by existing water company social tariffs is unfair and unsustainable in the face of rising water bills.”

Ofwat interim chief executive Chris Walters said they were expecting more than eight million water meters to be installed in homes by April 2027, to replace almost 3,000km of piping and to reduce sewage spills from storm overflows by 30% from 2024 levels.

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“These are just three examples that will help us reach our collective goal of cleaner rivers and seas, more resilient water supplies and better services for customers and the environment,” he said.

“However, we also recognise that these bill increases may be difficult for some people. That is why we approved a doubling of company support available for customers who are struggling to pay and now more than two million households are accessing this help.”

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