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(Alliance News) - Households in England and Wales will see an average GBP123 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 GBP480 to GBP603 for the next year alone.
This equates to an increase of around GBP10 a month, from GBP40 to GBP50.
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 GBP703.
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 GBP20 billion from April 2025 to March 2026, the highest ever level of expenditure in a single year, and the first in a five-year programme of investment worth GBP104 billion up to 2030.
The investment would help to build nine new reservoirs and nine new water transfer schemes, upgrade the capacity of 1,700 wastewater treatment works to reduce pollution and improve and protect more than 15,000 kilometres of rivers across England and Wales.
Firms would also support more than three million households with their bills as part of a GBP4.1 billion package over the next five years.
Water UK advised customers should contact their water company directly to see what help was available if they were concerned.
It said that following the latest increases, water bills were now only around 5% higher than they were in 2010 in real terms.
Water UK Chief Executive David Henderson said: "We understand increasing bills is never welcome and, while we urgently need investment in our water and sewage infrastructure, we know that for many this increase will be difficult.
"Water companies will invest a record GBP20 billion in 2025-26 to support economic growth, build more homes, secure our water supplies and end sewage entering our rivers and seas."
CCW said customers continued to face a postcode lottery of social tariff schemes, which meant the level of support and who was eligible varied considerably across England and Wales.
CCW Chief Executive Mike Keil said: "These rises are the largest we've seen since privatisation and will heap considerable pressure on millions of customers who are already having to make difficult choices.
"Customers want to see investment in improving services and cleaning up our rivers but that can't come at an unbearable cost to struggling households.
"Around 2.5 million households are already in debt to their water company and there is a danger that number will grow unless some companies show more ambition around financial support."
The increases come amid high levels of sewage spills and under-investment in pipes, sewers and reservoirs over the last decade.
Despite this, United Utilities Group PLC and South West Water's parent company Pennon Group PLC have already said they will raise dividend payouts to shareholders this year so that they increase in line with inflation.
James Wallace, the chief executive of campaign group River Action, said: "We're being told to celebrate the 'record investment' of water companies, but in reality, it is the public that will pay the price for their decades of neglect. Instead of fixing crumbling infrastructure, water companies have saddled themselves with billions in junk debt, leaving us with sewage-choked rivers, and paying extortionate interest rates through bill hikes.
"Communities and customers won't be fooled by this web of lies. It's time for broken utilities like Thames Water to be put into Special Administration and refinanced to operate for public benefit not investor return.
"Meanwhile, the Water Commission must end the failed privatisation experiment and reform the broken regulators to ensure a sustainable and resilient water and sewage system for future generations. Rivers do not need economic growth, they enable it."
United Utilities shares rose 1.7% to 1,016.50 pence each on Thursday morning in London, giving it a market capitalisation of GBP6.93 billion. Pennon shares climbed 2.6% to 568.50p each for a market cap of GBP1.63 billion, while Severn Trent shares were 0.9% higher at 2,492.00p each for a market cap of GBP7.48 billion.
By Josie Clarke, PA Consumer Affairs Correspondent
Press Association: Finance
source: PA
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