Yorkshire Water announces hosepipe ban

Yorkshire Water will introduce a hosepipe ban on Friday (11 July), following the declaration of drought across many parts of northern England in June.

The Environment Agency has previously reported the driest start to spring in 69 years and lower than normal reservoirs in central and northern parts of the country.

The water company says the ban will last until water stocks are ‘back to where they need to be’, possibly into this winter, and it will apply across Yorkshire as well as parts of North Lincolnshire and Derbyshire.

Impact on landscaping

In England and Wales, the power to introduce a hosepipe ban is given to water companies in Section 36 of the Flood and Water Management Act 2010 and elaborated on in the Water Use (Temporary Bans) Order 2010.

Broadly, these laws allow water companies to ban various domestic uses of a hosepipe, with specific exemptions for commercial and other non-domestic uses.

However, they also provide a degree of flexibility and are somewhat open to interpretation, so it is always worth contacting the relevant water company if you are unsure on the legality of a specific use.

In this case, Yorkshire Water has provided a useful plants and green spaces Q&A for businesses on its website, addressing some of the most common queries from BALI members.

For instance, the company says garden centres can continue to use hosepipes to water plants on sale, landscapers have 28 days to water newly planted ornamentals for a client, and those maintaining public floral displays or hanging baskets cannot use hosepipes or sprinklers.

It is worth noting that households are also permitted to water newly laid turf or grass seed with a hosepipe for the first 28 days, according to Yorkshire Water’s home and garden Q&A for households.

If you need further clarity on what will and will not be permitted under the ban, please call Yorkshire Water directly on 0345 1 24 24 24 and select option three.

‘We need to take action now’

Announcing the ban, Yorkshire Water’s director of water, Dave Kaye, said: 

“We need to take action now to help conserve water and protect Yorkshire's environment. That means from Friday this week, people across Yorkshire will need to stop using their hosepipes to water their gardens, wash their cars or for any other activities.

“Introducing these restrictions is not a decision we have taken lightly, and we’ve been doing everything we can to avoid having to put them in place.

“Our region experienced an extremely dry spring, which resulted in the region entering drought status in June. Usually, spring is a time when our groundwater sources and reservoirs continue to be topped-up by changeable weather, but this has not been the case in 2025, with our reservoir stocks falling since the last week of January.

“Of course, we have seen a few periods of changeable weather more recently, which helped slightly with the water resources picture. But these have been followed by constant high temperatures and more dry weather, which causes increased water usage.

“We’re grateful to our customers, who have been saving water where they can this year already. It is really important that we all continue to do so.”

Looking ahead

BALI will continue to monitor developments and communicate any further droughts and hosepipe bans to members and, in turn, their clients.

We have previously discussed the benefits of sustainable garden design, rainwater harvesting systems, and water solutions more broadly.