Couple give up flat over £200-a-month water bill

A couple have given up their flat and moved back with family because they could not afford to pay their water bill.

Harvey Brett, 20, and Maya Port, 19, said they were paying £200 a month while their neighbours in similar unmetered properties were charged £70.

The couple said they had paid more than £1,500 in less than 12 months and had to give notice on their two-bedroom one-bathroom flat in Saltash, Cornwall, because they "can't afford to live like this".

South West Water said the couple's concerns were raised shortly before they moved out which gave "limited opportunity to explore alternative charging arrangements", but it had since applied an assessed charge and refunded about £1,000.

Brett said: "We're hardly in the building and this isn't measured by a meter.

"I find it astonishing that South West Water thought there was nothing wrong with our £200 a month water bill," he said.

Brett said he contacted the company on a number of occasions to ask why he was paying £130 more than his neighbours and believed the company "fobbed him off".

He said: "We've paid a total of £1545.52 for less then one year of being there, in water alone."

South West Water said, based on earlier assessments, "it was unlikely" a meter could be installed at the property.

It said a meter was previously requested but the appointment was "not kept and was not rearranged".

The firm said "the property was billed based on rateable value, which is standard where a water meter is not suitable".

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