Source · Select Committees · Environment, Food and Rural Affairs Committee
Recommendation 25
25
Deferred
Paragraph: 101
A step change is needed in promoting the uptake of appropriate property flood resilience measures.
Recommendation
A step change is needed in promoting the uptake of appropriate property flood resilience measures. It is important that reforms to Flood Re to incentivise PFR form part of wider work aimed at encouraging people to improve the flood resilience of their own property. We welcome the Government’s call for evidence on ways to accelerate PFR uptake, and the findings of our inquiry should inform this work. Following its current call for evidence, the Government should publish an action plan of new measures to deliver a significant increase in the uptake of property flood resilience, including identifying where more evidence is needed on which measures will be most appropriate and effective. The Government should consult on amending building regulations to ensure an ambitious level of flood resilience in new build and reinstatement works. The Government should also consider developing a consistent national funding stream for PFR measures.
Government response summary AI-generated
The government acknowledges the need for further action on property flood resilience and is currently running a consultation and call for evidence that cover the issues raised, stating they will review responses and provide an update on next steps, thereby deferring specific commitments.
Summary of the government's response below — read the verbatim text to verify.
Paragraph Reference:
101
Government Response
Deferred
HM Government · verbatim extract
Deferred
The Government recognises that further action is needed on property flood resilience measures and has identified several barriers to the uptake of these measures and matching enablers to overcome them. There are a wide range of stakeholders who have a role in driving forward uptake and should benefit from the outcomes, including local Government, the building and developer sector and insurers, and finance sectors. The Government has launched a consultation23 into changes to the Flood Re Scheme and a Call for Evidence,24 both of which cover property flood resilience measures and how uptake can be accelerated. The Flood Re consultation proposes including reduced premiums for households with property flood resilience and enabling households to ‘build back better’ after a flood. The Call for Evidence looks into a range of enablers, including financing and building regulations. Following their conclusion, the Government will review the responses and provide an update on next steps. Conclusion and Recommendation 26 & 27: It is essential that the Government works with Flood Re and the insurance industry to identify and address continuing obstacles to the uptake of insurance among people at risk from flooding. The Government should set out what further research will be undertaken, building on the Blanc review of insurance in Doncaster, to better understand and address barriers to uptake of household flood insurance cover.
Read the full response on Parliament ↗