An independent group appointed by the competition watchdog rejected nearly 80% of increases sought by companies.
Five water firms are to be provisionally allowed to raise their bills by between 1% and 5% more than previously granted by regulator Ofwat, the competition watchdog has said.
Five companies – Anglian Water, Northumbrian Water, South East Water, Southern Water, and Wessex Water – argued that Ofwat’s original decision left them unable to meet the regulatory requirements set out for them.
An independent group of experts appointed by the Competition and Markets Authority (CMA) said Anglian and Northumbrian should be allowed to increase their bills by a further 1%, Southern by 3%, South East by 4% and Wessex by 5%.
The CMA said a provisional decision allowed for 21%, or an additional £556 million in revenue, of the total £2.7 billion the five firms requested.
Kirstin Baker, who chaired the independent group of experts appointed by the CMA to consider the price controls, said: “We’ve found that water companies’ requests for significant bill increases, on top of those allowed by Ofwat, are largely unjustified.
“We understand the real pressure on household budgets and have worked to keep increases to a minimum, while still ensuring there is funding to deliver essential improvements at reasonable cost.”
