An increasing number of customers are struggling to pay their water bills and the rise in the cost of living puts a sharper focus on affordability challenges. At the same time, climate change poses significant long-term challenges to the sector, which affects both household and business customers. A wide range of tools are needed to tackle these issues and new approaches to setting charges can play a role to support affordability, as well as other objectives such as incentivising water efficiency.
In 2022, we called on water companies to conduct charging trials that are accompanied by effective customer engagement and support. The trials are aimed at supporting affordability, and potentially other sustainability goals such as reducing demand. See our September 2022 consultation and March 2023 conclusions.
In their Business Plans for 2025-30 (as part of the 2024 price review), all water companies planned to trial new charging structures by 2030. You can read more about their plans in our January 2024 summary.
On this page you can find more information about:
- current charging trials
- charging trials during 2025-30
- how we regulate charges to protect customers
- how household charges are currently structured
- trialling new charging structures
- good practice principles for charging trials
- our expectations of water companies in sharing information about charging trials
This page was last updated on 12 May 2026.
Current and planned charging trials for 2026-27
| Details |
| Portsmouth Water is planning to launch two trials for households on smart meters in 2026-27. The first trial would allow customers to ‘pre-pay’ for a fixed amount of water based on their expected usage, at a discount from the standard rate. Any consumption above the agreed amount would attract a surcharge to the standard rate. The second trial incentivises customers to reduce their consumption, measured against their personalised baseline level. Reduced consumption would be charged at a lower volumetric rate; the same or higher consumption would attract the standard rate. Both trials are designed to raise customer awareness of their water usage and engage them in reducing consumption. |
| Severn Trent began its Water Smart tariff trial in February 2026. This Rising Block Tariff will charge around 5,000 household customers a cheaper rate for using a lower amount (or ‘block’) of water and progressively higher prices for using larger volumes of water. Severn Trent will measure and charge for consumption against blocks on a monthly basis, not on an annual basis (as other companies with RBTs do). So at the start of every month, trial customers will begin again in the lowest block. |
| South West Water began its Smart Saver tariff on 1 April 2024 and has this year extended it September 2026. This Rising Block Tariff charges around 500 household customers a cheaper rate for using a lower amount (or ‘block’) of water and progressively higher prices for using larger volumes of water. South West Water has assessed that 90% of their customers will see lower bills on this trial. It offers water efficiency advice and devices to help all customers participating to save water.
South West also launched two more trials from 1 October 2024.
South West Water also has plans to offer a community-level incentive to improve water efficiency, offering credits to all eligible customers in an area if total consumption is less than a baseline amount. More information is available at South West Water launches innovative new trial to make customer bills fairer, South West Water launches two new tariffs to trial fairer ways of charging customers and Smart Saver | Tariff Trials | South West Water |
| Anglian Water launched two seasonal tariff trials from 1 April 2024. These tariffs charge more for water taken in the summer (May-August) than in the winter (September-April). The trial initially appliedes to customers in the Norwich and Lincoln areas areas. Anglian Water has estimated that 2 out of every 3 customers would be no worse off or marginally better off under the seasonal tariffs compared with its standard charge. From 1 April 2025, Anglian extended its trials to customers in Northampton and Colchester.
Anglian also began a 4-year trial from April 2026 for some non-households that would encourage them to invest in on-site efficiency measures. It is working with Retailers on a scheme which is aimed at customers using more than 25,000 litres of water per year, mainly for non-domestic purposes. Customers would carry out an efficiency audit and implement its recommendations. Customers who did not carry out an audit or did not implement the recommended efficiency measures would attract an additional inefficiency charge. More information at nhh-tariff-trial-faq.pdf. |
| Affinity Water’s first trial of a Rising Block Tariff ran from October 2023 to October 2025. It applied to around 1,500 households, predominately in the Stevenage area. These customers received an initial amount (or ‘block’) of water for free, and pay progressively higher prices for using larger volumes of water (the “middle” and “end” blocks). More information at Everything you need to know about our WaterSave Tariff trial | Affinity Water. |
Other trials
South Staffs Water launched a trial in April 2024 for household customers who struggle with affordability but do not qualify for its Assure social tariff. The trial uses a ‘rising block’ structure, with the first block charged at the Assure rate and applying to essential use only. All water above essential use is charged at the standard rate. The company is not accepting new applications to the scheme although existing customers on the scheme continue to benefit. More information at customer-charges-south-staffs-final-2024.pdf (south-staffs-water.co.uk).
United Utilities began a reward scheme during 2024 that incentivised households to be more water efficient in return for the opportunity to win a year’s worth of water as a credit on their water bill. The company has expanded its trial offerings to include rainwater management, demand reduction and water efficiency, at both individual and community levels. United Utilities will include up to 10,000 customers for each trial. Customers who have engaged in water efficiency measures such as having a water meter fitted, installing a water butt or asking for a household water efficiency audit. More information at household-charges-scheme–2026-2027.pdf.
Charging trials during 2025-30
In ‘Summary of water companies’ published plans for household charging trials‘, which we published on 12 January 2024, we set out information on the trials and other measures that water companies included in their published business plans for 2025-30 for the 2024 price review.
This document allows customers, companies and other stakeholders to review and compare companies’ plans to use charging trials to support households, in terms of both affordability and sustainability by 2030.
This document is for information only. We do not offer observations or critiques of any company’s plans because we assessed plans separately as part of PR24 – our quality and ambition assessments (QAA): we published the results of the QAA as part of our draft determinations in the 2024 price review. Find out more about the 2024 price review.
Find out more about charging and charging schemes.
How we regulate charges to protect customers
We limit the amount of revenue each water company can collect in total from its customers each year. We also have rules that require companies to set fair charges for different classes of customer. Together, these measures help to stop companies from overcharging customers and means they will be protected during charging trials. You can find out more about how we set these revenue caps on our price review web page and more about how we regulate the setting of charges on our charging web page.
Our most recent customer research suggests around 6% of customers receive financial support for their water bill. If you are worried about paying your bills, contact your water company to see what assistance they can offer. You can also contact CCW to get more information about the different types of help available.
Find more about our work to protect customers, including the support they receive paying their bill.
How household charges are currently structured
Water companies in England and Wales currently set their charges for household customers in different ways, depending on whether customers are metered or unmetered.
- Unmetered customers pay a fixed amount, in total, for their water. This usually comprises a small, fixed charge (the “standing charge”) and a separate fixed amount based on the rateable value of their property or an assessment of the expected water use.
- Metered customers also pay a standing charge, but then pay per litre of water consumed. The price per litre is the same, irrespective of how many or when they are consumed.
- Some customers will also be eligible for social tariffs or the WaterSure scheme, which limit the size of the customer’s water bill.
Trialling new charging structures
There are several ways for companies to structure their charges, which could provide benefits and incentives to customers. For example, water companies could
- charge less per litre of water consumed up to a certain amount, and more per litre above this amount. This could help to reduce discretionary water consumption and make water bills more affordable. This is called a ‘Rising Block Tariff’
- use seasonal charging, where the price per litre is lower in the winter and higher in the summer
- use peak pricing, where the price per litre is the same up to a defined level of consumption, but higher for water consumed above this level
- reduce bills for homes with water butts and permeable driveways, which can help to reduce risk of flooding and pollution to rivers and bathing water, particularly at times when water is scarce
We set out some examples of charging structures in our September 2022 consultation on charging innovation to support affordability.
To learn from and better understand the likely effects of moving to new ways of setting charges, we are encouraging water companies to conduct trials of these new charging structures. This would typically involve a small number of customers paying new charges for the duration of the trial. This would allow the sector to learn things like:
- how the charges can be set to help lower-income customers with their water bills
- how best to engage with and support customers, for example to help customers understand the new charges, get financial support (such as access to social tariffs) or help with household leaks
- how effective the charges are at saving water, supporting the health of rivers and alleviating water scarcity
Good practice principles for charging trials
We will support charging trials that are consistent with good practice principles. Companies are responsible for their own charges and for designing and running their trials to test new charging structures. They will design, implement and evaluate trials that are specific to their own and their customers’ needs and circumstances. Because trials involve real customers and there are risks associated with any changes to charges, it is important that trials that are of a high standard.
Our good practice principles for charging trials are:
- Careful planning and design means trials need
- to be based on an understanding of their customers’ needs and characteristics.
- to have a clear objective, a statement of what the trial is trying to achieve and why.
- to be based on charging policy that estimate the likely impact on customers, has identified mitigating measures and has robust plans for engaging and supporting customers.
- to be based on a fair and neutral approach, to make sure findings are robust and unbiased, be large enough to be meaningful but small enough to manage.
- to reflect consistent principles to aid comparability across companies.
- Good customer engagement and support means
- Companies will need to communicate and engage effectively with their customers, explaining the purpose of the trail, so that customers feel that they have the information they need to react appropriately.
- Offering support for customers struggling to pay, informed by the estimate of potential impacts
- Supporting customers in reducing leakage and discretionary water consumption, including repairing leaks and providing advice on water efficiency
- Supporting the full diversity of customer needs, for example communication in an accessible format or help with meter reading to monitor water consumption.
- Maximising learning means
- Using experts where needed, for example, to design a consistent basis for evaluating trials.
- Collaborating with other companies to develop consistent and robust trials, including how they will be evaluated
- Sharing learning with each other, to improve the effectiveness of future trials and wider implementation of more innovative charging approaches.
Sharing information about charging trials
When companies trial new charging structures or research how charges are set in other countries and in other sectors, they should share this information with the whole sector. This can allow water companies to widen and deepen their understanding of different approaches, and analyse results from a larger number of different trials, to see what the best approach could be for their customers.
To help to facilitate this learning, we use this page to link to published information that could help the sector to understand more about different approaches to setting charges and the potential effects this could have on customers and their consumption. In addition we have established a shared space for water companies and CCW to share information such as trial design, challenges and opportunities around implementation, evaluation of results and analysis of customer feedback.
If you have any research or analysis that you consider would be useful to share with the sector, please get in touch at [email protected]. We are primarily looking for research on:
- the approach to setting charges in other relevant sectors or in the water sectors in other countries;
- guidance on how to set up, run and analyse charging trials; and
- analysis of the results of charging trials.
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