Yorkshire Water bills to rise by 5.6% from April

Average household water bills in Yorkshire are set to increase by 5.6% in April, it has been announced.

Yorkshire Water said the rise, which amounts to about £2.80 per month, will help fund a £8.3bn scheme to improve infrastructure and deliver better service for customers.

According to the firm, some of the money would go towards reducing sewage discharges as well as replacing 353km (219 miles) of mains across the region.

Yorkshire Water customer director Matt Pinder said: "This is our largest ever investment package – designed to drive significant progress in areas we know are important to our customers."

Pinder said the money would also be spent on improvements to storm overflows, new water sources and installing 350,000 smart meters.

The firm said it acknowledged bill rises would be "difficult" for some households and said it would be offering £375m in financial support to 345,000 customers.

The increase, which was agreed by Ofwat in December 2024, will help deliver infrastructure projects totalling £1.1bn between April 2026 and April 2027.

This will include starting a number of projects to reduce the amount of phosphorous entering watercourses, such as the Haxby Walbutts and Naburn wastewater treatment works.

Between 2025 and 2030, Yorkshire Water said it would be investing the equivalent of around £3,600 for every household in the region.

Pinder added: "We've already delivered a huge number of infrastructure projects – over 200 in 2025 – and it's important that we keep that momentum going over the next year, and beyond."

Over the last 12 months, the firm said it had employed 900 new staff and replaced more than 120km (74 miles) of mains across the region, which it estimated was saving 1.24m litres every day in leakage.

It said it had also created extra storage in the wastewater network, drilled new boreholes to unlock underground water sources and created wetlands at South Elmsall and Dearne Reach to support wastewater treatment.

Speaking in Rotherham on Thursday, Chancellor Rachel Reeves said she "absolutely" understood people's frustrations about the increase in water bills.

Reeves said: "We inherited, when we came into office a year and a half ago, a broken water system where our rivers, our lakes and our seas were being badly polluted.

"But I know that people will be frustrated by these bill increases. However, in April, we're going to be taking £150 off of people's energy bills.

"That will be a big relief for people when energy bills obviously have been so high these last few years."

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