Insurer Aviva publishes findings on New Build Flooding Risk
Insurance giant Aviva’s ‘Building Future Communities Report makes worrying reading, with one in 9 new homes built between 2022 and 2024 constructed in areas currently at either medium or high risk from flooding. This is an 8% rise on the number of homes at risk since figures were last published in 2022.
The report analyses data using addresses of new homes alongside the Environment Agency’s constituency flood risk assessment. It identifies a worrying level of building in high-risk areas.
Surface water flooding provides the biggest worry as it is unpredictable. Areas alongside rivers and coastlines are more obviously at risk and flood defences need strengthening. Alternatively, councils should not be approving housing developments sites clearly at risk.
Top of the constituencies ‘at risk’ list is Greater London and Essex, with 32% of constituencies having new builds in flood risk areas. This is followed by Lincolnshire/East Yorkshire, North West and West with 13% of constituencies at risk.
Aviva has a vested interest in this issue being one of the GB’s most high profile insurance companies. Aviva’s Building Future Communities Report gives reason for great concern for those trying to insure their homes. It is projected that every British constituency will be at increased risk of flooding, whether from rivers, coastlines or surface water, by 2050, 69% of constituencies are expected to see a 25% increase in properties at risk from that flooding.
Flood Re is a joint initiative between the Government and insurers. Set up in 2016, its aim is to make the flood cover part of household insurance policies more affordable.
Jason Storah, Aviva’s UK and Ireland General Insurance CEO, states, “Importantly, these homes are not protected by the Flood Re scheme, which excludes homes built after 2009 to prevent more new homes being put at risk. Sadly, as the study shows, this simply hasn’t happened.” He added, “When flooding already costs the UK economy £6bn, where and how we build new homes is a growth issue.”
Aviva invests heavily in the UK and has committed £25 billion over the next decade to support national growth and the economy, including investing in our social infrastructure. Storah expressed concern about the extent of construction on flood-vulnerable land. He also urged that investment be made in flood defence systems to protect those new houses. He stated that with “In some areas, it will not be a case of if, but when, a home will flood.”
These measures are vital to ensure that insurance is not only affordable but also available for new houses in areas where flooding is predicted.
To this end, Storah urges mandatory measures to ensure new houses are protected. He insists “Property flood resilience does not have to be expensive, and effective measures can be installed for under £1,000.”