The Westminster Sustainable Business Forum and Policy Connect have called for a suite of actions to help property owners make their homes more resilient to flooding.
In the third Bricks and Water report in a series, this one focused on Managing flood risk and accelerating adaption in a climate emergency, the organisations recommend practical measures to help both planned development and existing properties boost their ability to cope with floods. There is particular focus on vulnerable communities and the growing risk they face from flooding as the climate crisis worsens: since 2013, more than 10% of all new homes in England have been built on land at risk of flooding (flood zones 2 and 3).
Among the report’s ten recommendations are:
• clearer planning guidance and greater resources for Local Planning Authorities to take enforcement action;
• the government to enact Schedule 3 of the Flood and Water Management Act 2020, by the end of this year.
• updates t o building regulations to include property flood resilience measures, a VAT exemption for products and materials used to make homes more resilient, the mandatory use of discounted insurance premiums, and adoption of Flood Re’s Build Back Better scheme throughout the insurance industry.
The report follows a year-long inquiry, chaired by Baroness McIntosh of Pickering. She commented: “This is the third inquiry that I have chaired in the Bricks and Water series and it is possibly the most important, as vulnerable communities across the country continue to face regular disruption from flooding. “It is more than a decade since Sir Michael Pitt’s review into flooding that affected the UK in summer 2007.
However, progress has been slow on changes that are vitally needed to mitigate flood risk – in particular, the mandatory use of Sustainable Drainage Systems and removing the automatic right for developers to connect surface water drainage to public sewers. The recommendations that we have made in this report seek to facilitate better flood risk management both for new and existing communities.”
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