Annual water bill to rise by average £123 from April 1

Households in England and Wales will see an average £123 or 26% increase to their yearly water bill from April 1, final figures show. 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 equates to an increase of around £10 a month, from £40 to £50. North West water company United Utilities has confirmed bills will rise by 32 per cent over the coming five years.

The Warrington-headquartered company serves about seven million customers across Greater Manchester and Liverpool and said they had agreed the bill increases negotiated with regulator Ofwat last year.

However millions of households face even steeper rises, with Southern Water customers told they will see a 47% increase, Hafren Dyfrdwy and South West Water bills rising by 32%, Thames Water customers warned they will see a 31% hike and Yorkshire Water raising bills by 29%.

Bournemouth Water customers will also see a 32% increase to their bills. The increase will see the average yearly Southern Water bill reach £703.

Other factors, such as whether a customer is metered and how much water they use, means the bill changes will vary considerably for customers depending on their circumstances.

The increases are higher than those announced by Ofwat in its new five-year price limits for firms just before Christmas as they include inflation.

The Consumer Council for Water (CCW) said stronger and fairer support was urgently needed to protect struggling households from the largest rise in water bills since the privatisation of the water industry 36 years ago.

Water UK said firms would invest around £20 billion from April 2025 to March 2026, the highest ever level of expenditure in a