To protect essential water and sewerage services for consumers and safeguard the future of those services, bills in England and Wales will rise by a little more than inflation this year.

The average increase, which will vary from company to company, is 1.5% plus inflation at 4.3%. This means that the average household water and sewerage bill will rise by around £18 to £330 a year.

-- Advertisement --

Ofwat Chief Executive Regina Finn said: "Each year we challenge the monopoly water companies to make sure their customer charges are in line with the price limits we have set and are fair. When we are satisfied that they are, we approve their bill changes.

"The work that Ofwat has done to keep prices down, including setting companies tough efficiency challenges, has kept customers' bills around £100 lower than they would otherwise have been.

"Clearly any bill increases are going to be unwelcome, but these price rises are essential to enable companies to continue to provide high-quality, secure water and sewerage services both now and for future generations. The increases also go towards significant improvements to protect the environment."

(CD/JM)