2m households secure lower bills through water companies’ social tariffs

Around 2 million struggling households are receiving lower water bills through water companies’ social tariff schemes to combat rising prices, according to new figures from The Consumer Council for Water (CCW).

The report shows that England and Wales provided help to more than 1.96 million customers through social tariff schemes in 2024-25 – a rise of 22%. These customers’ bills were reduced by an average of £190.

The welcome growth in financial support was still not enough to prevent an additional 199,000 households falling into arrears over the same period – taking the total number of customers in debt to their water company to around 2.85 million. And this was before household customers felt the impact of April’s record rise in charges, which increased the average water and sewerage bill by around 26% – or £123.

CCW has warned that more households could sink into water debt, unless a new single social tariff for England and Wales is introduced to provide consistent and better targeted financial support.

This could replace the existing postcode lottery of different water company schemes, which sees the level of support and those eligible for help vary considerably across the country.

The latest data shows the average bill reductions provided through the main water and sewerage companies’ social tariff schemes ranged from £120 to £314 a year.

Mike Keil, Chief Executive of the Consumer Council for Water said “Many customers understand bills need to rise to help fund more reliable services and clean up our rivers, lakes and seas, but the safety net for people who cannot afford these increases is not strong enough. We want to see fairer and more consistent help through the creation of a single social tariff to ensure financial support flows to those that need it most.”