Major insurer warns 7,116 new homes will be built on flood-prone land. Is YOUR local area on the list?
- New build homes struggle to get flood cover even in the drier parts of the country
More than 7,000 homes have been given planning permission to build in the most flood-prone areas of the country, insurer Allianz warns.
Allianz said 7,116 new homes have full or conditional planning permission on previously undeveloped flood plains in the 12 local authorities with the highest proportion of homes at risk of flooding.
An Allianz report written by think tank Localis states that 7 percent of England’s flood defenses are in a poor condition, of which 1 percent are considered very poor.
A quarter of flood defenses are privately owned and are almost twice as likely to be in poor condition as those maintained by the Environment Agency.
Flood risk: The number of properties at risk of flooding is growing every year
In England, there are 12 local authorities where more than one in 10 properties have a flood risk of more than 1 per cent – the benchmark for being considered high risk.
The authorities investigated are: South Holland, Boston, Fenland, Runnymede, King’s Lynn and West Norfolk, City of Kingston upon Hull, East Lindsey, North Lincolnshire, Spelthorne, Doncaster, Exeter, Windsor and Maidenhead.
Caroline Johnson of Allianz UK said: ‘It is worrying to see so many homes in these areas receiving planning permission.
‘Floods are traumatic events for householders, who can see their homes destroyed and a lifetime of belongings destroyed.
‘The Government has announced ambitious plans to build 1.5 million homes over the course of this Parliament, and while we know more new homes are needed, it is important that they can withstand flooding and bad weather.’
Figures from the House of Commons Public Accounts Committee show that 5.7 million properties in England are at risk of flooding.
With at least 22 named storms affecting the UK since the previous report was published in 2021, figures from the Association of British Insurers show the value of weather-related claims in 2023 was £573 million.
Floods and home insurance
Most properties are protected by Flood Re – a joint initiative between the government and insurers that makes flood cover more widely available and affordable as part of home insurance – but this does not apply to properties built since 2009.
That means any new home built in the last 15 years may struggle to find affordable home insurance that covers floods.
Insurance claims caused by flooding and bad weather can be extremely expensive.
Allianz paid UK flood claims totaling over £20 million in 2023, with the average cost of a claim being £33,000.
The largest flood damage claim was almost £450,000, which occurred during Storm Babet in October 2023.
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