ONE of the UK’s biggest water suppliers is adding £139 to customer bills per year by the end of the decade to help repair its network of leaky pipes.
Severn Trent, which supplies 4.8million households, is increasing its average annual bill from £379 next year to £518 by 2030 — a 37 per cent rise — to finance a £12.9billion turnaround plan.
The company also speedily raised £1billion from investors yesterday, with Qatar’s Investment Fund taking half of the new shares on offer and investing £500million.
Severn Trent said the investment would help to cut the level of pipe and sewage leaks, and set aside £5billion to enhance its service level.
The mammoth overhaul will create 7,000 jobs, largely in the Midlands, as more manpower is needed to lay hundreds of miles of new mains pipes — in 2021 Severn Trent reportedly had a three-year average of 446million litres leaked a day.
To help some customers afford higher bills, the firm also announced a £550million affordability fund that would provide 693,000 vulnerable households — around one in seven of its customers — with discounts of up to 70 per cent off their bills.
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Liv Garfield, CEO at Severn Trent, said the company was committed to “healthier rivers, providing thousands of jobs, and fewer leaks”.
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Bank of England figures show approvals dropped from 49,500 to 45,400 in August.
Higher mortgage costs also saw sales slip 16 per cent in the last year.
But an average five-year fixed-rate mortgage fell below 6 per cent this week — the first time since July.
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The shares rose by 12 per cent.
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