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Ofwat greenlights £3.4bn in water bill rises

newsAug 13, 2026171,250

Ofwat has provisionally approved an extra £3.4bn of customer funding for 13 water companies in England and Wales so firms can raise bills to pay for infrastructure and environmental work. Nearly a third of the extra money is earmarked to maintain water services, with other funding allocated for rising demand from housebuilding and data centres and to tackle pollutants described as "forever chemicals". Five companies, Severn Trent Water, Southern Water, Thames Water, Wessex Water, and South East Water, face additional bill increases over the next two years on top of rises already agreed in 2024; Southern will add about £43 next year while South East Water will add about £1 in 2029. The other eight firms named, Anglian Water, Dwr Cymru Welsh Water, Hafren Dyfrdwy, Northumbrian Water, Wouth West Water, United Utilities, Yorkshire Water, and SES Water, would recover extra spending through bills after 2030. Ofwat said companies had applied for £4.3bn in extra funding and some requests were rejected, and executive director for delivery Helen Campbell said Ofwat will track company performance to ensure expected improvements. The decision is provisional, subject to a public consultation with a final ruling due in December, and pockets of spending approved include new data centre connections in Manchester, extra wastewater capacity in Newquay, and bringing forward Wessex Water work on PFAS pollutants. Prime Minister Andy Burnham called the proposal "real money out of family budgets at a time when they are struggling with the cost of living" while an environmental group called the decision "an insult."

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