Londoners are going to have to find more money to keep the taps flowing in the year ahead, after industry group Water UK unveiled plans for the average household bill will go up by an inflation-busting 6% this year, a rise of around £27.
Water UK said the increase will come as the industry plans to invest over £14.4 billion in better infrastructure after the public outcry over sewage discharges into rivers and leaking mains supply.
The average rise will vary by region, but will be abound £2 a month and will kick in from April. Residents in the capital will pay £471 a year for 2024/25.
It follows widespread anger at high pay for senior executives in the industry, that led to the departure of Thames Water's CEO, Sarah Bentley, from the £1.6 million pound a-year-job in June last year. There were reports at the time that her departure came after she was asked to waive her bonus amid the scandal over polluted waterways.
London's heavily indebted utility has been grappling with a £14 billion debt burden amid concern about its ability to continue as a going concern. Its new permanent CEO, Chris Weston, has led efforts to buy back some short -term debt and issue longer term bonds. He is on a base salary of £850,000 and annual pension payments of £102,000 plus a £15,000 car allowance. An annual performance-related bonus scheme worth up to 156% of his salary could add a further £1.3 million to his pay.
Water UK also said today that over 2 million households already receive help from the industry in paying their bills, with plans in place for "targeted support" for low-income households to "its highest level ever". It also said that "customers have seen their bills fall in real terms over the last decade".
It added: "If water bills had kept pace with inflation since 2014-15, they would be around £60 higher today," and pointed out that "increased bills are only allowed where they pay for investment in things that are genuinely new and genuinely needed, like meeting targets for our water and sewerage system."
Last week it was revealed that the amount of sewage flowing into the Thames in 2023 was five times higher year-on-year. The time during which it was discharged into London's waterways between April and December lasted for over 6,590 hours. The figure was identified by analysis at City Hall of Thames Water data.
In a statement issued then, Mayor Sadiq Khan “London’s rivers are the arteries of our city. Frankly the current state of some of our rivers is appalling and only getting worse."
Today, David Henderson, Water UK's chief executive, said: "Up and down the country customers will see the results of this investment with more than 2,000 kilometres of pipes being repaired or replaced and more capacity to treat sewage than ever before."
