Water bills to rise further for millions after regulator backs extra price increases
Water bills to rise further for millions after regulator backs extra price increases
Millions of households in England will have to pay higher water bills than previously announced after the UK's competition body agreed to let five water companies increase charges.
The companies - Anglian, Northumbrian, Southern, Wessex and South East - had asked for permission to raise bills by more than the amount previously agreed by the regulator, Ofwat.
They argued the rises set by Ofwat - which average 36% over the next five years – were not enough to deliver better infrastructure.
A panel appointed by the Competition and Markets Authority (CMA) has now said the bills can rise on average by an extra 3% - about £12 per year - partly due to the companies facing higher borrowing costs.
An independent group of experts appointed by the CMA said that Anglian and Northumbrian could increase their bills by a further 1%, Southern by 3%, South East by 4% and Wessex by 5%.
The five water companies serve more than 7 million household and business customers, and had asked for much larger increases to bills than the ones granted.
The group appointed by the CMA said the firms had asked to increase bills to raise a total of £2.7bn in extra revenue, but it had allowed only 21% of this, equating to an additional £556m.
"We've found that water companies' requests for significant bill increases, on top of those allowed by Ofwat, are largely unjustified," said Kirstin Baker, who chaired the group of experts.
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