Average water bills 'to rise 5.7%'

By Neal Wallace

Average water and sewerage bills for households in England and Wales are to rise 5.7 per cent from April, to £376.

In 2009, the industry regulator, Ofwat, announced a long-term plan of price hikes that was to be implemented over five years, to help fund £22 billion of investments.

The body has said that the average rise was made up of November's retail prices index of 5.2 per cent, plus 0.5 per cent. However, it disguises variations between firms, with customers at Southern seeing an 8.2 per cent hike and those at Dwr Cymru experiencing a rise of 3.8 per cent.

Speaking to the BBC, Ofwat said that the regional difference occurred because different companies had ongoing capital investments that needed different levels of funding.

These ranged from new large housing estates to coastal protection - as in the case of Southern.

Jersey Water has one of the smallest rises, with a 2.5 per cent increase being implemented from April.