ROOF Blog

The UK industry should develop more products to help builders and property owners make the 5.5 million properties at flood risk in England and Wales more resistant and resilient to flooding, Environment Agency chairman Lord Chris Smith says. Speaking at the National Flood Forum annual conference, Lord Smith also encouraged building merchants and DIY stores to offer advice to builders and members of the public on how to make properties more resilient to floods, so that drying out and cleaning up is faster and cheaper following any flooding. A recent Environment Agency study into the devastating floods of summer 2007 found the average cost per flooded home was between £23,000 and £30,000 and a quarter of homeowners were not fully covered by insurance.

Three weeks after last month’s devastating Cumbria floods, the Environment Agency is urging owners of damaged properties to insist that insurers repair their homes and businesses to be more flood-resilient.

Properties affected by flooding are often simply returned to their previous state, meaning that similar damage is likely if flooding occurs in future.

Repairing a property that has been flooded offers a chance to minimise the damage and disruption that could be caused by any future flood.

Millions of pounds of bridge and road repair funding was announced yesterday for Cumbria, as residents picked their way back into soaked and stinking properties for the first time.

Work will start as soon as is practicable on temporary crossings at the site of wrecked bridges, whose collapse is forcing long detours for people trying to get to work or school.

Priority action is meanwhile targeting structural and power safety checks, as well as clearing debris from rivers.

About 11,000 households north of Workington were warned last night to make arrangements for emergency telephone links if, as expected, the Calva bridge across the Derwent collapses.

More than 900,000 homes and businesses in England and Wales could be at the highest risk of flooding by 2035 without increasing investment in defences, the Environment Agency has warned.

The agency said the number of properties at the highest risk of inundation could rise by 60 per cent from current figures of 560,000, as it outlined a new five-year strategy, including plans to protect an extra 200,000 homes and businesses from flood waters.

The agency said that in the past five years, 156,000 properties had been protected against flooding.

Chief executive Paul Leinster said: ‘Less waste is going to landfill, more properties are protected against flooding, pollution incidents have halved since 2000 and there are more fish and wildlife in lakes and rivers.’

But he warned: ‘Climate change is already affecting the UK and the challenges we face as a result are only going to get tougher and more properties could be at increased flood risk.’

The latest government figures have revealed an increase in the use of brownfield land during 2008. London has the greatest proportion of dwellings built on previously developed land, while East Midlands has the smallest. Across the country 78 per cent of dwellings were built on previously used land, up from 77 per cent in 2007. The Campaign to Protect Rural England welcomed the rise in brownfield use saying it showed land was being used more efficiently, but it was alarmed at the level of building on greenbelt and in areas of high flood risk.

Forty flood-hit families a week have been returning to their homes following the floods in the summer of 2007. Figures from the councils involved in the floods said that of the 17,000 families who had to leave their homes 98 per cent are now back. However, 350 families are still in temporary accommodation and around 10 per cent of these are living partly or wholly in caravans, or on the top floor of their homes.

Council leaders are warning that households will be at risk from flooding if action to protect homes isn’t made a priority. A recent survey found that 60 per cent of councils lack the necessary funds to fulfil their flood responsibilities. Town halls are calling on the government to make new flooding laws a priority and to set out clear rules for water companies to cooperate with councils in planning against floods, saying the situation cannot continue where it is not clear who is responsible for dealing with different aspects of flood protection.

People living in flood-risk areas of England are finding it increasingly difficult to obtain insurance coverage, which may hamper the recovery of the housing market, a group of insurance and property analysts have found. About two million properties in England are at risk of flooding – with half a million considered at significant risk – but from 2013 insurance companies will not have to provide automatic flood coverage for low risk homes and small businesses. Most mortgages require insurance for flooding, so if coverage is unavailable a property is unlikely to qualify for a mortgage.

The Environment Agency has revealed it objected to more than 6,200 planning applications on the grounds of flood risk in 2007-08. Local planning authorities in England granted planning permission for 16 major developments, including 543 homes and a primary school, against agency advice.