60,000 in Yorkshire to see reduction in water bills

Thousands of Yorkshire’s lowest income households will see a reduction in their water bills this year. 

60,000 of those on the utility’s WaterSupport social tariff, which supports low-income households paying bills over the annual average, will receive the reduction in their 2025/26 bill.   

The increase in bill support comes following the announcement that water bills in the region will increase by an average of £135 (28.9%) in 2025-26, around £11 per month, to help fund an £8.3bn investment programme, which includes Yorkshire Water’s largest ever environmental investment package.  

Angie Markham-Nock, affordability strategy manager at Yorkshire Water, said: “The next five years are really important for us, for the environment, and for our customers, as we deliver an £8.3bn investment programme to help us meet expectations and regulatory requirements.  
 
“We know that some of our customers are struggling with their bills, and will find increases to bills unmanageable, and this is why we’ve built additional financial support into our plans.” 

Across all of Yorkshire Water’s financial support schemes, 100,000 more households will benefit between 2025–2030 than in the previous five years, taking the total to 345,000.  

The utility offers two different bill reduction tariffs - Water Support, which reduces the bills of low-income households paying above average bills, and Water Sure, which caps bills at the average amount for those who claim income-based benefits and need to use extra water.  

There are also three schemes available to customers to help pay off water bill debts: Resolve, Community Trust, and Direct Support. 

Over £375m will be delivered in bill reductions and debt support between 2025 and 2030 for those who need it.  

Angie added: “We would strongly encourage anybody who feels that they will be unable to manage the upcoming bill increases to take a look at the financial support schemes we have available on our website and get in touch with us, so that we can open the conversation and see what we can do for them.” 

Customers can find details of financial support schemes and eligibility at https://www.yorkshirewater.com/bill-account/help-paying-your-bill/ or reach out by contacting 03451299299. 

Planning and preparations for the £8.3bn investment programme have been underway for some time, with some 2025-2030 investments, such as Yorkshire Water’s smart metering exchange programme and improvements to Ilkley wastewater treatment works already underway. Upgrades at the storm overflow at Wheatcroft, Scarborough, have already completed and are delivering improvements in water quality. 

Other investment planned for the next 12 months include: 

• Replacement of 250km of water mains, as part of 1,000km of main replacement over the five year
• 160,000 smart meter exchanges across the region
• £129m investment to reduce storm overflows across the region, as part of a £1.5bn investment over five years
• £67m to start reducing Phosphorus entering watercourses at 45 wastewater treatment works 
• £22m on greater monitoring of the wastewater network 
• Investment in water treatment works at Eastness, Doncaster, Ingbirchworth, Haisthorpe and the construction of a new water treatment works at Brayton
• Rebuilding of three service reservoirs and construction of two new service reservoirs to improve resilience of water supplies