Martin Lewis has given people what he described as his ‘three bedroom rule’ which can save potentially £500 or more a month. Speaking on his BBCRadio 5 Live podcast with host Adrian Chiles, the personal finance expert said people should consider how to get their water bills down.
He explained that it was based on the old rateable value of the house – and potentially they could make a change to save hundreds. Anyone with three bedrooms, for example, should ask themselves how many people are in the home compared to the number of rooms.
If they equation was less or equal then there is a good chance of saving some money. He said: “Water is really important. The first think I will say is England and Wales only this it works differently in Scotland and Northern Ireland. The first question you ask yourself is ‘do you have more or the same number of bedrooms in your property than people’?
“Three bedrooms, two people, would count a yes. In that case you are likely to be better off on a water meter than having a bill. Because we talked about the bill is based on the value of your property.
“Very simply, you’ve got a big house, not many people living in it; it’s likely to be cheaper if they’re measuring your actual water usage. It’s going to make it a lot cheaper doing it that way.
“If that sounds right get onto the Consumer Council for Water’s calculator. Just as an example, Ursula got in touch with me and said, ‘I got a water meter fitted as there’s only two of us in a three-bed house. We now pay £16 a month instead of £60 a month.’ That’s £500 a year cheaper – nothing to be sniffed at.
”Now some people say to me, ‘I wanted a water meter, and they said I can’t have one.’ In some ways that is actually the sweet spot because if you can’t have a water meter because you might be shared pipes in flats, you can ask for an assessed charge.“
Mr Lewis said an assessed charge works out how much you would pay if you were on a water meter. He said: “You then get given that and if that’s less than your water bill you can go on your assessed charge but it doesn’t matter what you use, you’re going to pay the assessed charge. If it’s more you stick on your water bill.”
Mr Lewis said listener Luke moved from his first home in October 2024 and his water company wanted to charge him £50 a month with just him in a two-bedroomed flat. Mr Lewis continued: “‘When they called me up to negotiate they told me ‘that’s the price deal with it’. So I looked online and saw the value of getting a water meter installed. I booked an appointment and because they could not fit the water meter I’m now on an assessed charge of around £100 a year saving me £500 a year quickly’.
“He’s not even actually got the water meter so it’s really important – more or the same number of bedrooms than people, you’re likely to be better off on a water meter.” Mr Lewis suggested people used the website ‘save money save water’ https://www.savewatersavemoney.co.uk/ which has lots of free water saving gadgets.