Five water companies have been allowed to raise their prices – and millions will pay £43 more
Water bills have already been allowed to rise by 36pc from 2025-30 (Image: Getty)
Millions of customers are set to pay an extra £43 on their water bills after five companies secured permission to raise prices.
The five firms — which supply customers in five different areas across the Midlands and south of England — have been given initial approval by regulators to increase their customers’ bills in the next few years ‘to improve infrastructure for safe and reliable supplies’, according to Ofwat.
Water companies Severn Trent, Southern, South East, Thames, and Wessex will be allowed to raise prices from 2027 to 2030 in a £3.4 billion spending spree to allow more houses and data centres to be built.
“The newly agreed funding will help unlock much-needed new housing development and boost business growth across a range of sectors, as well as improving drinking water quality and the removal of PFAS and forever chemicals,” Helen Campbell, executive director for delivery at Ofwat, said.
“We will track performance to ensure companies are delivering the expected improvements for customers and the environment. If they don’t, expenditure can be clawed back.”
Water bill rises were announced when most of England and Wales is in drought (Image: Getty)
Firms have already been allowed to raise water bills by 36 percent from 2025 to 2030, Sky News reports, so confirmation of further increases is already proving to be controversial.
Prime Minister Andy Burnham hit out at the plans. He said: “Customers cannot be treated as a blank cheque. Where water companies seek to pass unnecessary costs on to households, they will be challenged.”
Ofwat has confirmed the amount each company can raise prices by. The largest increase by far is coming to the 4 million customers supplied by Southern Water.
In 2027/28, Southern can raise prices by £43, Wessex by £4, and both Thames Water and Severn Trent can increase bills by £3.
South East Water can raise their bills by £1 in 2029/30, Ofwat added.
Now the provisional approval of bill increases has been published, a three-month public consultation is open to scrutinise the plans. A final decision will be made in December.