Ofwat has launched a new consultation proposing wording changes to its NAV licensing policy and application guidance documents. The changes include embedding key decisions made as part of our April 2025 conclusions, new policy proposals regarding the better off commitments for Welsh sites, and providing further information to support high quality applications.

The consultation is also seeking views and suggestions to help Ofwat explore further efficiencies in the licensing process and reduce its service level agreement (SLA) times.

Ofwat views new appointees (NAVs) as an important part of the water sector – they introduce competition into the market for developer services and when they perform well, they can provide a range of benefits to customers and the environment.

In addition, by introducing choice to the developer services market, the regulator says NAVs can play a key role in supporting home building.and other developments, which turn promotes economic growth.

Ofwat comments:

“Given this transformation to developer services that has resulted from growth in NAVs, we are now working to ensure our regulatory approach remains fit for purpose. In this, our aim is to place increased emphasis on the ongoing monitoring of NAVs – making increased use of such data to introduce licensing efficiencies, improve our assessment of performance and compliance and inform our licensing decisions.”

Responses should be emailed to This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it – stakeholders can also email if they want to discuss any aspect of the consultation, to arrange a conversation on the issues Ofwat has raised.

Deadline to submit responses to the consultation is 11:59pm on 27 November 2025 – click here to download the consultation paper.

https://www.ofwat.gov.uk/wp-content/uploads/2025/10/Consultation-on-updating-our-licensing-policy-and-application-guidance-for-NAVs.pdf