Almost 380,000 more households received lower water bills through water companies' social tariff schemes in 2025-26, according to annual figures from the Consumer Council for Water.

Around £1.8 million is set to be cut from the bills of the most vulnerable people in Thanet thanks to a partnership between Thanet District Council and Southern Water.

A new research study has found that 6.8% of households in England and Wales faced water poverty in 2024/25 – based on the 5% water poverty measure.

The House of Commons Environment, Food and Rural Affairs Committee has written to the Minister for Water and Flooding, Emma Hardy, to ask if there will be adequate support in place for customers in water poverty over the next five years.

The Consumer Council for Water (CCW) has warned a House of Lords Select Committee that a change in direction by Environment Minister Therese Coffey could result in customers facing the “double whammy of unaffordable bills and an environment starved of vital investment.”

Water UK says that water companies are significantly increasing their help for customers in response to the cost-of-living crisis, with hundreds of thousands more people set to receive help paying their water bills.

CCW has called for renewed urgency in putting in place a new universal water affordability scheme to provide fair, consistent and sustainable financial help for the 1.5 million households across England and Wales living in water poverty.

Northumbrian Water is committing to eradicate water poverty in their supply area by 2030 by 2030.