The high cost of fuel and the impact it has had on pensioners has been heavily in the news, especially with the removal of the winter fuel allowence last summer.
But how often do you hear similar conversations about water? It’s not a subject that hits the headlines but that doesn’t mean it isn’t a problem, with many people, young and old alike, unable to afford water and swerage bills.
While there is help available in the form of social tarrifs they are run independently by each water company, creating a postcode lottery around the help avaiable.
Research undertaken by Independent Age has been looking into the level of water poverty among older people and how it is going to change in the next few years.
Key findings
Nearly 750,000 pensioner households may currently be experiencing water poverty. This could rise to one million by 2029/30.
73% of older people in England support the introduction of a single, social tariff for water bills.
The four different formats for a social tariff we tested have different advantages and drawbacks, but all could be effective at lifting older people out of water poverty, and all have broad support from older people on low incomes.
What Independent Age is calling for
A single social tariff for water bills could be a vital lifeline for older people on a low income who feel like they are drowning under high household bills. It could end the current postcode lottery of support and ensure water affordability support is fair and consistent across England and Wales.
Independent Age recommends that the UK Government:
work with Ofwat, the Consumer Council for Water, water companies, charities and other stakeholders to introduce a single social tariff for water bills in England and Wales
draw on existing research examining a single social tariff for water bills – including the modelling shared in this report – and commission additional modelling to inform the design of a single social tariff for water bills.
consider the most effective eligibility criteria to ensure that a single social tariff for water bills reaches those most in need of financial support.
consider ways to ensure high uptake of a single social tariff for water bills.
explore different methods for funding a single social tariff for water bills.
ensure that a single social tariff for water bills is designed to complement existing forms of support for people paying their water bills.
We, The CSPA, were proud to be one of the 14 charities to co-sign an open letter to Emma Hardy, the minister for water and flooding. It’s an issue that we will continue to support and campaign for. You can read the letter in full below or by clicking opposite
Dear Emma Hardy,
In your important role as Parliamentary Under-Secretary at the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, we are writing to ask you to assess the case for introducing a single social tariff for water bills.
The new UK Government has a huge opportunity to tackle this and meaningfully support people living in poverty with their water costs by creating a single social tariff for water bills.
We believe everyone deserves to be able to afford basic essentials like water. However, we know from the conversations we have with people on low incomes that they often struggle to pay their water bills.
Nationally representative polling commissioned by Independent Age in 2024 found that among people aged 65 and over living on a low income of below £15,000 per year, 38% in England and 29% in Wales said they were keeping up with their water bills, but it was either a constant struggle or a struggle from time to time.
As you may know, current water social tariffs provided by individual companies do offer vital support to people living in poverty, but the postcode lottery means that people living in financial hardship across England and Wales pay vastly different amounts for their water bills.
A single water social tariff would be a simple way to provide fair and consistent support for people in financial hardship, helping ensure more people are able to access the water they need without having to make extreme sacrifices. We strongly believe enacting this recommendation would make a tangible positive difference to the lives of people of all ages living on low incomes.
We hope you will join us, and others across sectors, to make this a reality.
Yours sincerely,
The undersigned
Independent Age
Age Diversity Network
Age UK
Centre for Ageing Better
Christians Against Poverty
Civil Service Pensioners Alliance
Centre for Sustainable Energy
Fair By Design
Money Advice Trust
National Pensioners Convention
National Energy Action
Parkinson’s UK
Re-engage
Royal National Institute of Blind People
Wise Age
