No Water in London? Here's Why, and What to Check First
Total loss of water is either the network, the stopcock, or a freeze, and each has a different right answer.
Two minutes of checks usually says which, and saves a callout when it’s the water company’s problem, not yours.
No water at all in London: do this now, while you wait
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Ask a neighbourIf they’re dry too, it’s the network, check your water company’s incident map and report it. No plumber required.
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Check both stopcocksThe internal one (make sure it hasn’t been knocked closed) and the outside meter valve, water company work sometimes leaves them half-shut.
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In freezing weather, suspect a freezeCold water only, upstairs only, one bathroom only, partial loss patterns point at a frozen run, not the mains.
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If you hear water you can’t see, stopcock offNo supply at the taps plus the sound of running water can mean the supply pipe has burst underground. Close the stopcock and call.
What causes no water at all in London
- Network outage or mains work. The water company’s problem, and their compensation scheme, worth knowing about.
- Closed or failed stopcock. Stopcocks get knocked, seize half-open, or fail internally, the gate drops off old gate valves silently.
- Frozen supply pipe. The run from the boundary to the house freezes where it’s shallow or exposed.
- Burst supply pipe. A soggy patch on the path or a hissing meter with dry taps, the leak is between the boundary and your kitchen.
Local conditions we work around
When one London flat has no water and the neighbours do, the cause is nearly always local, a seized communal stopcock, a closed isolating valve on the flat’s own branch, or a scaled-up service pipe that has finally furred shut. That last one is a genuine hard-water failure and more common in older properties than people expect. Before anything else, check whether Thames Water or Affinity are reporting works in the postcode, because that answer is free and immediate.
Areas we cover
Wherever you are in the list below, the price is the same. Open your area for what tends to go wrong there.
Questions people ask
Whose pipe is it?
From the boundary stopcock into the house is yours; from the main to the boundary is the water company's. A leak on their side is free to you; on your side, some water companies offer one subsidised supply-pipe repair, ask before commissioning anyone, including us.
You said check the incident map, where?
Every UK water company runs a live incidents page (Thames Water for most of London, Affinity Water and others around the edges). If your postcode shows an incident, the fix and the timeline are theirs.
My neighbours have water and I don't, what will you do?
Trace the loss: stopcock function, freeze check in winter, then pressure-test the supply pipe. If it's burst underground we locate it before any digging, a moling repair often avoids trenching the path at all.
What does a supply pipe repair cost?
There is no call-out charge. It is £110 for the first hour, then £45 for each additional half hour, plus the cost of parts, and the same at any hour of the day or night.