Martin Lewis is urging UK households to use a ‘bedroom rule’ to save hundreds of pounds (Image: ITV)
Martin Lewis is urging UK households to use a “bedroom rule” to save hundreds of pounds on .
Regulator Ofwat has confirmed that by £31 per year, or £157 in total, over the next five years to £597 by 2030.
The increase is to help fund a £104 billion upgrade for the water sector and represents a 36% rise before which will be added on top.
Households in England and Wales will see their water bills rise by £86 on average (a 20% hike) from April this year alone, with smaller percentage increases to follow in each of the next four years.
But says households have the potential to save hundreds of pounds simply by switching to a water meter, as this means you’ll only pay for what you use.
The MoneySavingExpert (MSE) founder says households should follow his “rule of thumb” regarding the number of bedrooms in your home to work out if the switch is worth it.
He says if you have more bedrooms in your home than you do people – or the same number – then you “almost certainly should be using a water meter”.
Speaking on his ITV Martin Lewis Money Show, he said: “If it looks like you’ve fulfilled my rule of thumb then I’d go onto CCWater.org.uk, at the Consumer Council for Water. And then usually you get your firm to give you a proper assessment of how much it’s likely you will use.
“Now look, in most places you have two years to change back if it doesn’t work for you, some places only one. A few firms do not let you change back so check before you sign up what the situation is with your water firm.
“If they say that fitting a water meter is not practicable, then actually what you do is you ask for an assessed charge and that means they will assess what your costs would have been likely to be if you had a water meter.
“So then if your assessed charge is lower than your water bill they go for the assessed charge, and if your assessed charge is higher than your water bill, stick on the water bill.”
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Of course the amount of savings you can make by making the switch to a water meter is dependent on how much water you actually use, as well as your water company, but in most cases you’ll have up to two years to change back free of charge if it doesn’t work out.