The paper says that the figures show the number of homes being built in risky areas is on the rise, with a previous analysis showing that between 2013 and 2022, one in 13 new homes were in potential flooding zones:
The research comes with the government under huge pressure to deliver new affordable housing, amid signs that the climate breakdown is accelerating.
Data published by the insurer Aviva reveals that of the 396,602 new homes recorded by the Ordnance Survey in England between 2022 and 2024, 43,937 are in areas of medium or high risk of flooding, while 26% of new homes have some risk of flooding.
Emma Howard Boyd, former chair of the Environment Agency, who advises Aviva on climate policy, said the government’s target to build 1.5m homes this parliament could create pressure to build in areas at high risk of flooding.
She said: “We don’t want to be building today’s houses in places where they will become ever more at risk of flooding. Defra [the Department for Environment Food and Rural Affairs] and the Ministry for Housing need to be working close together to make sure our housing targets aren’t preventing what we know is needed to protect future and existing homes from future levels of flooding.”
Aviva’s data also shows that by 2050, one in seven (15%) of the homes built between 2022 and 2024 will be at medium or high risk of flooding and almost a third (30%) will face some kind of flood risk, as more extreme rainfall is predicted as a result of climate breakdown.
The government said the analysis does not factor in flood defences which are already in place, though this was disputed by Aviva, which said it does.
Experts have said London’s flood defences, for example, need to be urgently updated to protect the city.
The research comes after a Guardian investigation last year found that millions more homes in England, Scotland and Wales are facing devastating floods, and some towns may have to be abandoned as climate breakdown makes many areas uninsurable.
That analysis revealed the extent of concern in the insurance sector as larger areas of housing and commercial property become at a greater risk.
New guidance in Wales has sought to address this problem. It is time England followed suit.
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