Ofwat has written to all the water companies following a number of complaints alleging that incumbent water companies have made it difficult for self-lay providers to compete and operate efficiently in the developer services markets.

Water industry regulator Ofwat has launched a new consultation on charging rules for new connections to existing networks which come into effect on 1^st April next year.

Ofwat’s current proposals to implement new charging rules could put Self Lay Providers’ businesses at risk, according to their trade association Fair Water Connections (FWC).

Water industry regulator Ofwat has set out its general expectations about the assurance terms a water company can seek in a self-lay agreement with a self-lay organisation.

Ofwat has launched a new consultation how water companies provide new connections to developers under Self Lay Agreements – the terms of SLOs are an ongoing source of common areas of dispute and a potential barrier to competition in the sector, according to the regulator.

Water industry regulator has launched a new investigation into an appeal it has received about the terms Bristol Water has sought to include in a self-lay adoption agreement for a specific development site.

In a case which Ofwat says raises “issues of strategic significance” for the water sector, the regulator has published its final decision to accept binding commitments from Bristol Water under the Competition Act 1998 on new water connections.

Water industry regulator Ofwat has upheld Wessex Water's right to include certain charges in a case involving a dispute between the water company and a self-lay organisation (SLO) about the approach used to calculate the asset value payment for the self-lay of water mains for one phase of a new housing development in Somerset.   

Water industry regulator Ofwat has said that it will step in if the water companies fail to rise to the challenge of meeting customers’ needs, including self-lay groups, in proposals for new customer service standards currently in the process of development.

Water industry regulator Ofwat has published new guidance on its general  expectations for how monopoly water and sewerage and water only companies in England and Wales should provide and charge for new connections.