Two in five households across England and Wales say they will find it difficult to afford the increases to water bills being proposed by the regulator Ofwat.
The Consumer Council for Water (CCW) has published the findings of an in-depth study of 9,500 households. It gauged billpayers’ views on the regulator’s draft decisions to allow water companies to increase bills by an average of 21%, before inflation is added, over the next five years to help fund £88 billion of investment in improving services and the environment. These proposed bill rises would begin to take effect from April 2025.
A representative sample of household customers served by each water company in England and Wales were asked how easy or difficult they would find the proposed bill rises for their supplier. They were also asked how acceptable they found the five-year investment plans for their area, based on Ofwat’s draft determinations in response to companies’ business plans.
Overall, 40% of customers said they would find the proposed changes to their water bill difficult to afford – more than double the 18% who say they have difficulty paying their current bill. In Wales, these concerns were even more acute with nearly half (48%) of customers saying they would find the planned rises difficult to afford.
Customers were broadly supportive of the way their money would be spent to tackle issues like curbing leakage and reducing pollution into rivers, lakes and seas, with 75% of those surveyed finding the overall investment package for their company acceptable.
The consumer watchdog CCW says the findings show that while the majority of people back the need for investment in water and sewerage services, the price tag would be too much to bear for millions of households.
CCW has already voiced concerns that some water companies’ proposals to expand financial support for struggling customers do not go far enough. There remains an urgent need for a single social tariff for England and Wales to end the current postcode lottery of assistance.
