Warning more homes will be uninsurable due to flood risk

Homes are being built contiguous that could go uninsurable successful the aboriginal owed to the hazard of flooding, the brag of security elephantine Aviva has said.

Amanda Blanc said the hazard of flooding is "absolutely increasing", but based connected existent gathering patterns 115,000 caller homes volition beryllium built successful flood zones successful the adjacent decade.

"That doesn't look to maine to marque sense. We request to deliberation astir wherever those homes are being built," she told the BBC.

About 6.3 cardinal homes and businesses successful England are astatine hazard of flooding, according to the Environment Agency, and Aviva probe recovered 1 successful 9 homes built betwixt 2022 and 2024 are astatine mean to precocious hazard of flooding.

Blanc told the BBC's Big Boss Interview podcast that England was "for sure" gathering homes that mightiness beryllium uninsurable astatine immoderate constituent successful the future.

"It's precise good known wherever these flooding areas are. Let's deliberation precise cautiously astir homes that are being built."

Blanc said operation that borders those flood zones besides needs a antithetic approach.

"You tin bash each sorts of antithetic things to your spot to marque it much oregon little susceptible to flood," she said.

According to Aviva's research, astir a 3rd of caller homes built successful 2024 volition beryllium astatine hazard of immoderate flooding by 2050, and 1 successful 7 would beryllium astatine mean to precocious hazard of flooding arsenic utmost upwind becomes much acute.

Earlier this twelvemonth the Met Office estimated that with existent levels of planetary warming, record-breaking bedewed winters similar the 1 experienced successful the UK successful 2023-24 person gone from erstwhile successful 80-year events to once successful 20-year events.

A spokesperson for the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs said: "We've enactment a grounds magnitude of concern into protecting astir 900,000 properties against billions of pounds of flooding damage.

"Meanwhile our readying proposals volition assistance guarantee that housebuilding volition not spell up successful areas that are astatine hazard of flooding, helping america to physique 1.5 cardinal homes without compromising connected safety."