South East Water faces a £30.5m redress package after a series of catastrophic supply failures that left up to 70,000 homes without water in Kent and Sussex – the latest in a string of crises that have plagued the supplier for years. The penalty, confirmed by regulator Ofwat, concludes three investigations into the company, which supplies drinking water to 2.3 million customers across Kent, Sussex and Surrey.
Ofwat launched the first investigation after supply interruptions between 2020 and 2023 affected more than 286,000 people, leading to a previously proposed £22m fine. But the watchdog opened a second probe at the start of this year after further outages in Tunbridge Wells and across the two counties between November and January, leaving up to 70,000 homes without water. A third investigation followed after South East Water’s credit rating was downgraded by Moody’s in May, which breached its licence conditions.
“South East Water must pay £30.5m after supply cuts hit 286,000 customers and 70,000 homes lost water.”
The £30.5m redress package includes the earlier £22m penalty, with the remainder covering the subsequent failures. An independent monitor will be appointed by Ofwat to review the company’s performance improvement plan and wider turnaround efforts.
Helen Campbell, the executive director for delivery at Ofwat, said: “South East Water must now focus on what matters most – its customers. These failures have caused real disruption and hardship for residents and businesses across many years, and supply interruptions of this scale have happened far too often. This package is the first step towards full accountability and to improving overall performance, and we welcome the company’s engagement to bring these cases to a conclusion.”
Campbell added: “But the work doesn’t stop today – South East Water needs to make meaningful, lasting changes to ensure customers can rely on the service they receive.”