Southern Water is increasing its bills by just under 10% for 2023/24.
The water company says due to “economic pressures” it is increasing household bills in line with inflation.
This means dual service customers can expect an increase of 9.4% on their charges, with an average annual bill rising from £401 to £439, while water only bills will go up by 9% and waste only by 9.7%.
Katy Taylor, Southern Water’s Chief Customer Officer, said: “We are aware that the UK’s cost-of-living crisis is a worry for many of our customers, and this is why plans to increase tariffs are never taken lightly.
“The rise this year reflects the growing economic pressures of chemical, energy and wage inflation.
“We are channelling more money than ever before into supporting customers in need – particularly those who may struggle to pay their bills. This £98m will boost the support package we already offer customers including payment holidays, special tariffs, debt write-offs, bill reductions and grants for household items.
“If you know anyone who is finding it hard to pay their bills, please encourage them to get in touch with us as we can help.”
Southern Water says the rise will also help fund its£98m support package for those in need.
The company says in real terms, the 2023-24 average bill is 12.5% lower than four years ago. It says it has not paid any dividends to shareholders since 2017.
Southern Water has been under fire over outages in Thanet during December and January and outfall releases in to the coast on an ongoing basis.
This month MPs, including South Thanet’s Craig Mackinlay, voted in favour The Draft Environmental Targets Regulations which sets legally binding targets to tackle water pollution. However, the draft has been criticised by Labour as allowing another 15 years of sewage pollution before measures come into force.
Find out about how your new bill is calculated or support schemes and payment schemes
Is the rise to cover the costs of their clean up errors of our seas and waterways.Or maybe all the water outages.
We should be getting a rebate for poor service.
When will this privatised company seriously address its failures over water delivery and sewage pollution rather than hand over so much money provided by its users to directors and shareholders, neither of whom have demonstrated that they deserve it?
Southern water has NO RIGHT to PUT PRICES UP especially after all the disruption they have caused lots of households in the eara.
What they should be made to do, is pay compensation.
They should be called to account.
As always the directors and shareholders are just interested in lineing their pockets.
They are fat and greedy.
Hhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaahhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh
All you deluded Tory diehard please accept reality!
Nationalisation of everything is the only way forward out of the shark infested waters of privatisation!
Funny, I seem to recall Tony Benn & others accurately predicting the future of privatisation by Thatcher & then Major in the late 1980’s & early 1990’s, the deregulation of the city, the total disdain of Tories towards doctors, nurses etc.
I think Katy, less said soonest mended.
Being the Chief Customer Officer at Southern Water must be like being Al Capone’s corporate client advisor.
I bet she doesn’t tell her friends, neighbours and family, that she works for the Great Brown Satan. Mind you working for Southern Water would mean that you are Katy no mates.
‘Dear idiots
Instead of drinking water drink champagne like we do you peasants!
And you want compensation for not drinking anything other than water, you should be paying us more for the privilege of being your maters(oh believe me you will pay more now we have been fined!).
Now, go away and stop snivelling you brats, I have a dinner at the Ritz to attend!
Yours
Southern Water’
Ignorance in any form is an unpleasant trait
What a nerve after all the leakage and people being without water, they ought to reduce it by 10%
Who believes in tory privatisation of the water industry anymore? Vote Tory to have higher water bills
Good idea Barry! If the water got cheaper we could wash the filth out of Cliftonville
So, a company collects , cleans and brings to your home clean water, takes away your waste and gets rid of it, for the princely sum of £1.20 a day for the average home. Something we all use and need. Without doubt there could be improvements on the disposal side of things and if we all were happy for another 20p a day i’d gues that would be enough to get things rolling in terms of improvement.
What does £1.20 buy these days? Some people really are detached from reality. And as for the notion that the state could do a better job cheaper, no chance.
Or not as recent events have shown. Also are you just going to ignore the amount of crap they pollute our beaches, rivers & coastline with-even when they have no need to?
I’ve acknowledged that under the “ without doubt…. “. My point however is that the service we get is cheap as chips , if people want something better we’ll have to pay.
I think you’re backing a loser, Lc.
Doesn’t mean i’m wrong though. It should also be borne in mind that about 10% of the bill is to cover those who choose not to pay their bill. The water companies are unable by law to disconnect non payers so the law instead allows them to cover the losses from the rest of us.
Actually it did before privatisation when water assets were sold off cheaply.
Who do you think built the Welsh reservoirs?
Who do you think funded Bazalgettes great work in London?
Yes,the state in one form or another.
The Victorians found that private water was not up to the job.Do we want a repeat of the great stink?
Private organisations work best in manufacturing or relatively limited tasks.The state funds much of industry via education training and R&D.
Where shareholder value impinges on the public interest is where we need reform.
Are they literally taking the piss
So we’ve now the pleasure of paying an extortionate amount for effluent water; that’s FOUL! Thankfully we filter & pay for spring water as back up despite being a household with a disabled inhabitant. That makes perfect sense NOT!
Record profits, worst service in years and they announce a 10% increase?!?!?!?!?!
Haha.
Modern Britain for you.
Will no doubt lay staff off too.
Please look at this link..what we see now was predicted 40 years ago
https://speakola.com/political/neil-kinnock-i-warn-you-campaign-1983
well you cant fault the service they provide haaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaa haaaaaaaaaaaaa haaaaaa
Someone has to pay for the work to supply water to the unnecessary new houses being built on the fields around Thanet. I suppose we will have problems when water can’t soak into the ground when it’s covered in new buildings and roads and driveways where the occupants can put the two cars and plug them into the electric, which will also be required to light the streets and cause light pollution, could go on and on.
Call me an oldie, but I remember when water was a free service.
Southern Water are like the Officers at TDC they get rewarded for failure.
I thought all the striking workers were selfish and they didn’t appreciate that we all pay their wages, so didn’t have much sympathy with them. Now that Southern Water will increase charges by 10% and private energy companies make millions in profits, I’ve changed my mind about the strikers. If private monopolies can impose such increases then we all deserve a higher income to pay them. Or is that too simplistic. We have had enough of being treated like idiots by those in power.