Bank of England expected to leave interest rates on hold today; household water bills to rise 36% by 2030 – business live

Regulator Ofwat rules that bills in England and Wales will increase by an average of £31 per year from 2025 to 2030

• Thames Water to get green light to hike bills by more than a third by 2030

Ofwat says the “£104bn upgrade” funded by a 36% increase to household energy bills will fund a range of projects to improve, and clean up, the water service.

This will include:

£12bn on 2,884 projects reducing spills from storm overflows;

£6 billion of upgrades to combat nutrient pollution for around 1,000 sites and catchments;

£3.3bn on nature-based solutions and increasing biodiversity;

£2bn of development funding to unlock £50bn investment for 30 major projects designed to secure water supplies including nine new reservoirs and nine large-scale water transfer schemes;

£456m of extra funding on day-to-day allowances to increase the rate at which water mains are replaced, with 8,445km set to be improved over the next five years. Continue reading...