Water firms in England and Wales have reportedly declared they want to increase bills by between 24 per cent and 91 per cent over the next five years, according to a consumer watchdog.

Brendan McFadden inews.co.uk

Southern Water is asking for the biggest increase of 91 per cent, which would mean its customers’ bills would rise from the current level of £479 to £915 per year, according to the Consumer Council for Water (CCW).

South Staffordshire and Cambridge Water are requesting the lowest rise – of 24 per cent – which equates to a £43 rise in their bills.

Firms have defended their request by saying higher bills will fund £100bn of spending over the next five years.

They claim the cash will fund replacing ageing, leaking pipes as well as stemming sewage discharges into rivers and seas.

The firms’ request comes in advance of a meeting by water industry regulator Ofwat this week, where it will set out what companies can charge their customers from next year up until 2030.

The regulator is understood to agree bill rises of at least half the amount that the companies have requested.

In some cases it is believed that Ofwat will request rises of more than half that has been requested.

Mike Keil, chief executive of the CCW, said bill rises were “going to come as a massive surprise to people”.

“People do want to see improvements, they do understand that takes investment, but I think the scale of what’s being proposed here is going to come as a real shock and this is why water companies have double down on their efforts to explain what people are getting for their money,” Mr Keil said.

Increases which have been proposed include forecasted inflation rate of 2 per cent.

The data take in changes the companies, Ofwat and other bodies such as the Environment Agency (EA) have made to their proposal for the future since their five-year plans for the period 2025-2030 were submitted in October.

Proposed increases include a forecast inflation rate of 2 per cent, in line with the Bank of England’s target.

Katy Taylor, Southern Water’s chief customer officer, said the company shared “everyone’s concerns about rising payments”, adding: “the water needs of our water-stressed region pose a unique set of challenges which require significant investment”.

Ms Taylor added cash from higher bills would be used to “reduce the use of storm overflows, safeguard water supplies for a rapidly growing population, and protect the environment”.

Water UK, which represents suppliers, said bill rises were “never welcome”, adding water companies were “massively increasing the level of financial support they offer to customers who struggle to pay their bills”.

The request for bill increases comes after a study published this year found water bosses have pocketed more than £25m in bonuses, benefits and other incentives since the general election in 2019.

Data compiled by Labour found the chief executives of nine water companies in England have pocketed millions on top of their basic pay over the past four years.

Since the election water chiefs received more than £10m in bonuses, nearly £15m in incentives and £621,580 in benefits, the analysis found.

The cash includes £1.4m in bonuses last year, down from £3.1m paid in 2022.

The release of the figures comes amid widespread outrage at the amount of sewage water companies are pumping into the nation’s rivers and lakes.

According to analysis from i published last week, water companies discharged sewage for more than 56,000 hours between them in rivers just down the road from their own headquarters last year.

Ofwat and the EA have come under fire for failing to do enough to protect consumers and take proper action against water companies for pumping sewage into the UK’s waterways.

Latest official data show water companies across England spilled sewage 464,056 times in 2023.

In one incident revealed by the BBC, United Utilities illegally pumped around 10 million litres of sewage into Lake Windermere in February.

The company blamed a telecoms fault in the area – but critics claim it failed to address the problem and let the EA know about it for nearly 10 hours.

A spokesperson for the company told the BBC: “As soon as we discovered this fault was affecting the Glebe Road pumping station, our engineers took urgent steps to resolve the situation.”

More than one in six customers considered water bill rises affordable, according to a recent survey by Ofwat.

How much do companies want to hike bills by?

• Southern Water: an increase of 91 per cent to £915
• Thames Water: an increase of 59 per cent to £749
• Hafren Dyfredwy: an increase of 56 per cent to £676
• Severn Trent: an increase of 50 per cent to £657
• Wessex Water: an increase of 50 per cent to £822
• Yorkshire Water: an increase of 46 per cent to £682
• Dŵr Cymru: an increase of 43 per cent to £702
• United Utilities: an increase of 38 per cent to £666
• South East Water: an increase of 35 per cent £330
• Pennon: an increase of 33 per cent to £644
• Portsmouth Water: a increase of 31 per cent to £157
• SES: an increase of 30 per cent to £315
• Anglian Water: an increase of 29 per cent to £682
• Northumbrian Water and Essex & Suffolk Water: an increase of 26 per cent to £530
• Affinity Water: an increase of 25 per cent to £294
• South Staffs & Cambridge Water: an increase of 24 per cent to £221