Water companies submitted their business plans for 2025-2030 to us on 2 October 2023.
We have published key facts and data from their plans, including information on proposed increases in investment and customer bills. We are currently scrutinising the companies’ plans, including looking at their ambition for customers and the environment and the affordability of plans for customers.
Data published on this page was submitted by water companies on 2 October 2023; we have not fully validated the data provided.
Click the links to jump to the relevant section on this page.
Customer bills
Water and wastewater companies
| Proposed average bill £ | Proposed increase in company bill | ||
| Water and wastewater companies | 2024-25 | 2029-30 | 2029-30 vs 2024-25 |
| Anglian Water | £496.22 | £571.34 | 15.14% |
| Dŵr Cymru | £462.82 | £580.93 | 25.52% |
| Hafren Dyfrdwy | £411.50 | £559.71 | 36.02% |
| Northumbrian Water | £403.59 | £478.23 | 18.49% |
| Severn Trent Water | £398.33 | £546.35 | 37.16% |
| Southern Water | £410.32 | £681.04 | 65.98% |
| South West Water | £504.29 | £620.52 | 23.05% |
| Thames Water | £436.11 | £608.96 | 39.64% |
| United Utilities | £446.71 | £556.17 | 24.50% |
| Wessex Water | £516.88 | £667.75 | 29.19% |
| Yorkshire Water | £438.12 | £584.53 | 33.42% |
| Weighted average bill | £441.34 | £579.81 | 31.38% |
Water only companies
| Proposed average bill £ | Proposed increase in company bill | ||
| Water only companies | 2024-25 | 2029-30 | 2029-30 vs 2024-25 |
| Affinity Water | £191.72 | £216.96 | 13.16% |
| Portsmouth Water | £114.49 | £134.84 | 17.77% |
| South East Water | £231.93 | £277.48 | 19.64% |
| South Staffs Water | £159.92 | £181.52 | 13.51% |
| SES Water | £236.98 | £262.00 | 10.56% |
| Weighted average bill | £192.97 | £222.10 | 15.10% |
The proposed changes in bills do not take account of inflation.
South West Water bill figures do not reflect bills for Bournemouth Water and Bristol Water.
Expenditure allowances
More detailed breakdown available.
| Water company | PR19 Final Determinations – net total expenditure (£m, 2022-23 prices) | PR24 Business Plan proposals – net total expenditure (£m, 2022-23 prices) | % change between PR19 and PR24 |
| Anglian Water | 6,495 | 9,305 | 43% |
| Dŵr Cymru | 3,574 | 5,101 | 43% |
| Hafren Dyfrdwy | 211 | 259 | 23% |
| Northumbrian Water | 3,491 | 6,027 | 73% |
| Severn Trent Water | 7,520 | 13,286 | 77% |
| South West Water (inc. Bournemouth and Bristol) | 2,833 | 4,447 | 57% |
| Southern Water | 4,071 | 6,606 | 62% |
| Thames Water | 11,721 | 18,529 | 58% |
| United Utilities | 6,846 | 13,677 | 100% |
| Wessex Water | 2,522 | 5,031 | 99% |
| Yorkshire Water | 5,321 | 7,921 | 49% |
| Affinity Water | 1,788 | 2,124 | 19% |
| Portsmouth Water | 236 | 346 | 47% |
| South East Water | 1,065 | 1,937 | 82% |
| South Staffs Water | 678 | 819 | 21% |
| SES Water | 310 | 413 | 33% |
| Industry total | 58,682 | 95,828 | 63% |
Water supply interruptions
| Outturn | Business Plan forecast | |
| Water company | Average minutes lost per property (hh:mm:ss) 2022-23 |
Average minutes lost per property (hh:mm:ss) 2029-30 |
| Anglian Water | 00:14:35 | 00:05:00 |
| Dŵr Cymru | 00:44:31 | 00:04:30 |
| Hafren Dyfrdwy | 00:16:39 | 00:05:00 |
| Northumbrian Water | 00:08:17 | 00:04:03 |
| Severn Trent Water | 00:09:10 | 00:05:00 |
| South West Water (inc. Bournemouth and Bristol) | 00:08:29 | 00:04:00 |
| Southern Water | 01:28:00 | 00:04:31 |
| Thames Water | 00:19:54 | 00:09:00 |
| United Utilities | 00:38:45 | 00:04:22 |
| Wessex Water | 00:04:10 | 00:05:00 |
| Yorkshire Water | 00:09:27 | 00:05:20 |
| Affinity Water | 00:12:53 | 00:03:40 |
| Portsmouth Water | 00:02:21 | 00:02:05 |
| South East Water | 03:02:21 | 00:10:14 |
| South Staffs Water | 00:04:29 | 00:02:30 |
| SES Water | 00:03:51 | 00:03:30 |
| Sector average | 00:26:12 | 00:05:28 |
Note: The performance commitment level on water supply interruptions for all companies for 2022-23 was 5 mins 45 seconds; for 2024-25 it is 5 minutes.
Leakage
| 2022-23 outturn performance leakage cubic metre per kilometre mains, m3/km/d | Leakage reduction from 2017-18 baseline, % |
||
| Water company | 2022-23 | 2029-30 | |
| Anglian Water | 4.65 | 4.5% | 20.8% |
| Dŵr Cymru | 9.08 | -21.2% | 17.3% |
| Hafren Dyfrdwy | 5.41 | 20.1% | 30.7% |
| Northumbrian Water | 6.59 | 14.0% | 22.9% |
| Severn Trent Water | 8.69 | 7.5% | 35.6% |
| South West Water (inc. Bournemouth and Bristol) | 5.95 | 11.9% | 35.1% |
| Southern Water | 7.80 | -5.8% | 35.0% |
| Thames Water | 19.41 | 11.4% | 41.2% |
| United Utilities | 9.87 | 5.9% | 26.4% |
| Wessex Water | 5.88 | 6.9% | 21.2% |
| Yorkshire Water | 8.76 | 12.4% | 31.0% |
| Affinity Water | 8.88 | 15.7% | 29.4% |
| Portsmouth Water | 9.51 | 0.6% | 37.3% |
| South East Water | 6.80 | -6.4% | 26.5% |
| South Staffs Water | 9.04 | 13.1% | 33.2% |
| SES Water | 6.46 | 11.6% | 31.0% |
| Sector average | 8.80 | 7.0% | 31.2% |
Regional leakage breakdowns
| 2022-23 outturn performance leakage cubic metre per kilometre mains, m3/km/d | Leakage reduction from 2017-18 baseline, % |
||
| Region | 2022-23 | 2029-30 | |
| South West Water (Bristol region) | 5.68 | 10.0% | 32.8% |
| South West Water (South West and Bournemouth regions) | 6.05 | 12.5% | 35.9% |
| Northumbrian Water (Essex and Suffolk region) | 6.23 | 16.9% | 23.6% |
| Northumbrian Water (Northern region) | 6.78 | 12.5% | 22.5% |
| South Staffs Water (Cambridge region) | 5.40 | 14.1% | 32.1% |
| South Staffs Water (South Staffordshire region) | 10.50 | 12.9% | 33.3% |
Note: The sector needs to meet a 50% leakage reduction by 2050 compared to a 2017-18 baseline. Over the 2020-25 period companies have committed to reducing leakage by 16%.
Storm overflow spills
| Average number of spills per overflow (based on total number of monitored spills and total number of storm overflows with spill data) | Average number of spills per storm overflow (based on total number of monitored spills and total number of overflows) | Percentage reduction in average number of spills per storm overflow, 2021 to 2029 | |
| Company | 2021 | 2029 | |
| Anglian Water | 25.60 | 16.63 | 35.0% |
| Dŵr Cymru | 43.49 | 38.70 | 11.0% |
| Hafren Dyfrdwy | 34.90 | 29.81 | 14.6% |
| Northumbrian Water | 25.34 | 16.42 | 35.2% |
| Severn Trent Water | 24.74 | 14.00 | 43.4% |
| South West Water | 38.87 | 17.50 | 55.0% |
| Southern Water | 20.23 | 15.45 | 23.6% |
| Thames Water | 31.92 | 17.21 | 46.1% |
| United Utilities | 41.80 | 19.60 | 53.1% |
| Wessex Water | 22.45 | 21.13 | 5.9% |
| Yorkshire Water | 33.57 | 25.37 | 24.4% |
| Sector | 32.16 | 21.26 | 33.9% |
Notes:
- Data for 2021 based on data reported to the Environment Agency and Natural Resources Wales; storm overflow performance is reported on a calendar year basis.
- We have compared the forecast position in 2029 to that of 2021 as rainfall for this year was similar to the long–term average.
- Hafren Dyfrdwy has informed us that it intends to revise the storm overflow figures in its PR24 business plan. We have therefore used its revised figure of 29.81 for 2029-30. This replaces the figure of 40.23 in the company’s PR24 business plan.
- For other companies numbers are based on those submitted in business plans on 2 October. Amendments have been made following initial checks by Ofwat.