Price increases

Every five years in England and Wales, Ofwat carries out a price review to determine how much investment and operational funding wholesale water companies need, and therefore how much households and businesses will need to pay in the following five years.

In Scotland, pricing is regulated by the Water Industry Commission for Scotland (WICS). Like Ofwat, WICS assesses how much investment Scottish Water requires and approves charge increases for a six-year period through its Strategic Review of Charges.

What’s happening in 2026/27 and what do you need to know?

England and Wales

As part of the PR24 review, Ofwat approved record levels of investment as part of its drive to transform the sector and deliver better outcomes for customers and the environment. This resulted in significant increases in April 2025. While further rises are due from 1 April this year, the average increase in most regions is lower than last year.

Wholesalers have now published their final charges for 2026/27, and we’ve begun contacting customers to explain what the changes mean for them.

Find out more information about price increases on our website.

Scotland

Scottish Water has announced charges for 2026/27 will rise by 8.67%. This increase sits within the price cap approved for the 2021 to 2027 regulatory period and will help to fund around £1.2bn of investment in maintaining and improving essential services.

Why are water bills rising?

Water wholesalers are under growing pressure to modernise ageing infrastructure, much of which has been linked to pollution in rivers and bodies of water across the UK. At the same time, they are being held accountable for delivering on sustainability targets to support the UK’s net zero ambitions.

These essential upgrades and environmental commitments are increasing spend, which is being funded through household and non-household customer charges.

There are two types of charges within your bill, each with its own purpose.

Wholesale charges

The wholesale charge in each region is the same for all water retailers and is determined by the wholesaler, i.e. your regional water company and approved by Ofwat. The revenue from these charges helps to manage and maintain the water and sewerage infrastructure used to supply your services.

Retail charges

The retail charge is a small uplift, which is added to the wholesale charge to cover the services your retailer provides, like billing, meter reading, account management and customer support.

Turning challenge into opportunity

While the wholesale charges make up a significant part of your water bill, there is scope to reduce these costs by lowering your consumption. The average non-household customer in the UK uses more water than they need to – suggesting that there’s a real opportunity to identify savings and help to cut costs.

While water efficiency isn’t a new concept, it’s never been more needed. It’s an effective solution to lessening the impact of price increases while also helping to address one of the biggest environmental challenges we’re facing.

Understanding and monitoring your water use can really help to identify any inefficiencies and opportunities to make savings. We can help customers to understand their water use by installing water tracking devices, such as Automated Meter Readers (AMRs), and using sophisticated data analytics to help identify opportunities to make savings. We can also deliver savings by working with our customers to detect and address any consumption spikes and by installing the right technologies and water saving devices to reduce water use.

For tailored support, you can also download our Workplace Water Efficiency Toolkit to access a step-by-step water audit for your site, alongside water efficiency posters to help educate your colleagues, social media assets, presentations and more.

If you’re looking for expert support to monitor your water use, or to detect and repair leaks, then please contact our solutions experts or visit the Sustainable Solutions page on our website. We also have an online water efficiency shop, where you can purchase water saving devices.

Key takeaways:

• Wholesalers have now confirmed their final pricing for 2026/27, and we’ve begun reaching out to customers to explain what these changes mean for them.
• Non-household customers can take control now by auditing their water use and implementing efficiency measures to reduce their water use.
• Download our Water Efficiency Toolkit and contact our expert solutions team for more support.
• If you have any concerns about paying your water bill, please get in touch on 0330 123 2000.