Moving house with Affinity Water: register, meters and help

• ✓CCW lists Affinity Water's area as North and West London and the surrounding Home Counties.
• ✓Affinity Water: you can tell it your move-in date up to 30 days before. Have your new address and postcode, your mobile number and email address, and bank details if you want a Direct Debit.
• ✓Affinity Water: if your new home has a meter and you have already moved in, you can give a reading. Otherwise it estimates the reading for you.
• ✓Ofwat: under the current legislation, household customers are not able to change their water supplier or sewerage service provider. The company that supplies your property depends on where you live.

Sources: Affinity Water: moving home, new customer (read 13 October 2026); CCW: find your water company (read 13 October 2026); CCW: what if I move to a property with a meter? (read 13 October 2026); Ofwat: changing supplier (read 13 October 2026)

• ✓Affinity Water's metering policy: if a meter was installed after 1 April 2024 by its Universal or Smart Universal Metering Programme, a twelve month transition to metered charges applies from the installation date.
• ✓Affinity Water's metering policy: the transition ends early if you ask to switch, if it becomes clear you would be better off on metered charges, or if the occupier of the premises changes.
• ✓Ofwat: if you do not have a water meter, your bill is not based on how much water you use. It is usually a fixed charge plus a charge based on the rateable value of your home, a valuation last updated in 1990.
• ✓CCW: if your new home already has a water meter, you must pay metered charges based on your usage and you cannot switch to an unmetered bill. Take a reading as soon as you move in.
• ✓CCW: a water company can install a meter when you move in, but not if you have already received an unmetered bill for that property. It tells you when you report the move.
• ✓Ofwat: you may receive your water supply from one company and your sewerage services from another, which means you may get two separate bills.

Sources: Affinity Water: metering policy (read 13 October 2026); Ofwat: unmetered customers (read 13 October 2026); CCW: what if I move to a property with a meter? (read 13 October 2026); CCW: can my water company install a meter before I move in? (read 13 October 2026); Ofwat: your water company (read 13 October 2026)

• ✓Affinity Water's metering policy: if your premises are in its East Region, you may revert to non-metered charges provided the conditions in its charges scheme are satisfied. In its Central or South East Regions you cannot, as both are compulsory metering areas.
• ✓Affinity Water's metering policy: it aims to install a meter you ask for within 56 days. If you have a tenancy of six months or more, your landlord may not prevent you from exercising that right.
• ✓Affinity Water: parts of its supply area in the South East of England have been identified as severely water stressed.
• ✓Ofwat: household customers in England and Wales can choose to have a meter fitted in their homes free of charge. If a meter cannot be fitted, the company must offer an assessed charge instead.
• ✓Ofwat: in England, where the company is legally obliged to act on your request, it must begin measuring your supply within eight weeks of the day you ask.
• ✓CCW: you can usually switch back to the unmetered charge within two years if you are unhappy with the change, except for customers in areas of England where compulsory metering is introduced. Where the company publishes its own rule, as above, that is the one to go by.
• ✓CCW: you can ask for a water meter to be fitted if you rent your home in England.

Sources: Affinity Water: metering policy (read 13 October 2026); Affinity Water: everything you need to know about water meters (read 13 October 2026); Ofwat: metered customers and applying for metered charges (read 13 October 2026); Ofwat: assessed charges (read 13 October 2026); CCW: should I get a water meter fitted? (read 13 October 2026); CCW: can I ask for a water meter if I rent my home? (read 13 October 2026)

• ✓Affinity Water: LIFT Standard is fixed at £160.80 for 2026/27 and LIFT Enhanced at £108, applied to your clean water bill from the day your application is received.
• ✓Affinity Water: you are eligible with a household income of less than £22,225 excluding benefits, with evidence, or if you claim certain benefits such as Universal Credit, Pension Credit or Jobseeker's Allowance. The threshold changes every financial year.
• ✓Affinity Water: if your current clean water bill is already lower than the fixed amount, it keeps you on your current tariff. Your wastewater company, Thames Water or Anglian Water, has its own discount schemes.
• ✓Affinity Water: if you cannot upload documents for your application, call 0345 357 2401.
• ✓CCW: every water company has a social tariff scheme which can help reduce your bills if you are on a low income, and who is eligible and the level of support varies depending on your water company.
• ✓CCW: WaterSure caps the water and sewerage bill of customers on a water meter who receive an income-related benefit and either get child benefit for three or more children under 19 or use extra water because of a medical condition.
• ✓GOV.UK: a WaterSure reform is set to come into force in early 2027. People on disability benefits become eligible where household income is below £25,745 a year, the cap moves to the lowest possible average bill, and the paid-for doctor's note goes. Scheduled, not yet in force.

Sources: Affinity Water: low income fixed tariff (LIFT) (read 13 October 2026); CCW: help with bills (read 13 October 2026); CCW: what is WaterSure? (read 13 October 2026); GOV.UK: reduced bills for around 300,000 households in WaterSure reform (read 13 October 2026)

• ✓Affinity Water: once you have given your move details, it updates your account as soon as it can, and you should see the changes by the end of the day.
• ✓CCW: the homeowner is responsible for maintaining the water pipes on private property up to the boundary of the road. The water main, the connection up to your boundary, the outside stop tap and the meter are the company's.
• ✓Ofwat: companies are required by their licences to reimburse the cost of water lost through leakage by way of credits to your bill, a leakage allowance that can apply to water and wastewater charges. You can only claim once the leak has been repaired, and it can be refused if you did not arrange the repair within the company's timeframe.
• ✓CCW: complain to the company first and give it a chance to put things right. If it does not reply within 10 working days you may be entitled to a Guaranteed Standards Scheme payment. CCW can take the complaint on once you have a final response or have waited eight weeks, and its service is free.

Sources: Affinity Water: moving home, new customer (read 13 October 2026); CCW: who is responsible for my water pipes? (read 13 October 2026); Ofwat: metered customers and applying for metered charges (read 13 October 2026); CCW: make a complaint (read 13 October 2026)

• ✓Taupia keeps the Affinity Water account next to your energy, broadband and mobile: what it costs, when it is due, and each housemate's share on the rule your household sets.
• ✓For energy, broadband and mobile, Taupia compares your tariff against the market and lines up a switch when one is worth it. Water is monitored only, because it cannot be switched.
• ✓Taupia is free. You pay the water company directly, as you always have, and nothing changes without your approval.