Planning permission has been given for more than 7,000 homes to be built in the areas at the highest risk of flooding in England, a report commissioned by leading insurance provider Allianz reveals today.
The report – Plain dealing revisited: Planning for flood resilience – authored by independent think tank Localis, reveals that a total of 7,116new homes have full or conditional approval planning permission on previously undeveloped floodplain land in the 12 local authorities with the highest proportion of homes at flood risk.
Researchers analysed the planning portals of these authorities, recording all entries relating to ongoing developments in the first half of 2024. Of this total, 1,006 dwellings were given planning approval in the first half of 2024[1], while 6,110 were granted approval in previous years.
The Localis report also highlights that 7% of England’s flood defences are in a poor state with 1% classed as very poor. A quarter of flood defences are privately owned and almost twice as likely to be in poor condition than those maintained by the Environment Agency.
Allianz is supporting a series of measures outlined in the report to help improve England’s flood resilience including:
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- Increasing the Environment Agency’s capacity to ensure the maintenance of both public and private flood defences, and to enforce planning regulations.
- The Minister for Water and Flooding, currently located within the Department for Environment, Food & Rural Affairs (Defra), should be given a joint brief covering Defra and the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government (MHCLG), with the responsibility of overseeing the Flood Resilience Taskforce and implementing its recommendations.
Caroline Johnson, claims director of personal lines insurance at Allianz UK, said: “It is concerning to see so many homes being given planning permission in these areas. Floods are traumatic events for householders, who can see their homes ruined and a lifetime’s worth of possessions destroyed.
“The Government has announced ambitious plans to build 1.5m homes over the course of this Parliament, and while we know more new homes are necessary, it is important that they are resilient to floods and bad weather.
“Our changing climate means that floods and severe weather are likely to become more common. It is important for national and local planners and developers to work together to prevent unnecessary development in high-risk flood areas and ensure that new homes are more resilient to floods.”
High cost of flooding, Flood Re and homes at risk
Insurance claims caused by flooding and bad weather can be hugely expensive. Allianz paid UK flood claims totalling more than £20m in 2023 with the average cost of a claim costing £33,000. The largest single flood damage claim was nearly £450,000, which occurred during Storm Babet in October 2023.
Figures from the House of Commons Public Accounts Committee reveal there are 5.7m properties in England at risk of flooding. With at least 22 named storms hitting the UK since the previous report was published in 2021, figures from the ABI show the value of weather-related claims reached £573m in 2023.
Although some properties are protected by Flood Re – a joint initiative between Government and insurers that makes flood cover more widely available and affordable as part of home insurance – it does not include properties built since 2009.
Jonathan Werran, Localis chief executive, said: “Twin government objectives of delivering up to 370,000 new homes a year and enhancing our resilience against flood risk are not of themselves incompatible missions, but will require tightening up and harmonising of policy levers.
“This need for a renewed urgency for joined-up government is especially the case as our research indicates a continuation of planning permissions being granted for new dwellings in areas of such high flood risk.”
The Localis report also recommends:
To help combat poor awareness of flood risk, the Taskforce should work to develop a live system providing flood-risk category certification for new buildings to increase risk awareness among homeowners and occupiers, which would update in response to new development to capture compounding local flood risk.
The regions surveyed
The Localis report highlights floodplain development in areas that are at the greatest risk of flooding. In England there are 12 local authorities where more than one in 10 properties face a more than 1% risk of flooding – the benchmark for being deemed high risk.
The authorities surveyed 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.
| Local planning authority | Dwellings in the planning pipeline | New planning permissions 1st January to 14th July 2024 |
| Boston | 777 | 159 |
| Doncaster | 431 | 227 |
| East Lindsey | 367 | 51 |
| Exeter | 700 | 0 |
| Fenland | 545 | 35 |
| King’s Lynn and West Norfolk | 1169 | 54 |
| Kingston upon Hull | 441 | 90 |
| North Lincolnshire | 44 | 15 |
| Runnymede | 170 | 0 |
| South Holland | 1695 | 178 |
| Spelthorne | 647 | 0 |
| Windsor and Maidenhead | 130 | 130 |
| Total | 7,116 | 1,006 |
