Drainage charges for occupiers of land in the Anglian area
Check if you need to pay drainage charges, how much they are and how to pay.
Applies to England
The general drainage charge only applies to the Environment Agency’s Anglian area, which is Lincolnshire and Northamptonshire and East Anglia areas.
The charge applies to occupiers of:
- agricultural land and buildings which fall outside the boundary of an internal drainage board
- areas participating in a Defra scheme, such as ‘set aside’ land
- commercial woodlands
- woodlands planted under a Defra or Forestry Commission scheme
Annual general drainage charge invoices
The Environment Agency will send you an annual invoice around 1 April each year for the period 1 April to 31 March.
The occupier of the land on 1 April must pay the full annual charge.
If you have a mixture of both chargeable and non-chargeable land you will only pay the charge for the chargeable land.
Charges for 2023 to 2024
| Regional Flood and Coastal Committee | Charge (pence per hectare) |
|---|---|
| Anglian Great Ouse | 216.46 |
| Anglian eastern | 391.81 |
| Anglian northern | 279.23 |
The money raised from the charge contributes towards the cost of maintaining and improving:
- main rivers
- sea defences
- tidal embankments that protect low lying areas
Work carried out can include:
- dredging to remove silt
- weed clearance
- maintaining structures such as barriers, sluice gates and pumping stations
If you have any questions about your charges or your invoice contact the Environment Agency.
Contact the Environment Agency
General enquiries
National Customer Contact Centre
PO Box 544
Rotherham
S60 1BY
Email enquiries@environment-agency.gov.uk
Telephone 03708 506 506
Telephone from outside the UK (Monday to Friday, 8am to 6pm GMT) +44 (0) 114 282 5312
Monday to Friday, 8am to 6pm.
Updates to this page
Published 1 October 2013Last updated 13 March 2023 + show all updates
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Charges updated for 2023 to 2024.
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Prices have been updated to correct a typo
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Updated charges for 2022 to 2023.
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Charges updated for 2021 to 2022.
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First published.