NOW OPEN: the MSE Forum 'Ask An Expert' event. This time we'd like your questions on TRAVEL & HOLIDAY DEALS. Post by Wed and deals expert MSE Oli will answer as many as he can.
MSE News: Water bills to fall by average of 5% over next five years

531 Posts


in Water bills
"Water regulator Ofwat's today told suppliers to cut water bills by an average of 5% between 2015 and 2020 ..."
Read the full story:
Water bills to fall by average of 5% over next five years

Click reply below to discuss. If you haven’t already, join the forum to reply. If you aren’t sure how it all works, read our New to Forum? Intro Guide.
Water bills to fall by average of 5% over next five years

Click reply below to discuss. If you haven’t already, join the forum to reply. If you aren’t sure how it all works, read our New to Forum? Intro Guide.
0
This discussion has been closed.
Latest MSE News and Guides
Replies
Water bills to fall...
No!
"Water bills for England and Wales will fall by an average of 5% - not including inflation - by 2020, the regulator Ofwat rules."
As inflation WILL be more than 5% (likely MUCH more) in the 5 years between 2015 & 2020, then bills will continue to rise!
Bristol water down 21%!
Wessex (Sewers) down 9%
Now RPI is higher inflation rate only used to increase prices to consumers while the lower rate of CPI is used by Government to prove how good they are at economics and to reduce the real value of any government pension or other benefit.
So RPI is 2.3% currently so my water bill will rise at that rate this year. This rate will probably go no lower over the next five years.
So for every £100 of my current bill
in 2016 = £102.30
in 2017 = £104.65
in 2018 = £107.06
in 2019 = £109.52
in 2020 = £112.04
Now take off the 10% of £100 from this year (2014) = £10
and 2020 is now £102.04
This is assuming inflation is static at 2.3% (unlikely) and no new government initiatives are launched after the election.
I have a feeling that this is just an election bribe and this policy will vanish after May 2015. The water companies and government will make something up like interest rate rises or flood defences or new water sources need to be paid for and this policy will be replaced.
Very misleading to imply it is a cut in headlines ie people will pay less, if not factoring inflation in. It is a reduced increase perhaps but bills will not fall for most.
It's been more than a year now, and two people is less than £200 a year. In fact, I think we are still using up the surplus from the account from before. They are taking about £2 a month using the direct debit, probably the minimum amount.
5% on £750 would be nice, 5%on £200 is barely raising a smile.
5% OVER FIVE YEARs? So that's 1% a year? Now that's a joke that could make me laugh.
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-somerset-30445294
They wanted to increase all their customers bills by £7 a year to pay for a new reservoir, then go on to admit (having been told "no!") that "additional revenue could be gained from 50,000 homes planned for the area. If they are built this would offset the increase."
If the infrastructure has to be increased to cope with new homes, make the builders and the new home owners pay for it. I've more than paid my way - hence the staggering 21% decrease they've been told to impliment.
Problem is that no-one knows what inflation will be so this is the most logical way of showing what will happen to bills. It's nothing new, every price review has been done in the same way but normally it has been a plus RPI figure so bills rise above inflation.