Flood-risk new-build homes could become uninsurable

After the long, hot, record-breaking summer that we've experienced, with hosepipe bans and severe water shortages still in place in several parts of the country that won't be lifted until significant rainfall has been recorded, it feels a little odd to be talking about flooding and the risk it brings to a home.

One of the consequences of such consistently high temperatures is that the ground has been baked hard, which means that it will take time for any rainfall to make its way through the surface and soften the soil underneath. The changing climate, too, means that heavy rainfall is more likely. With harder ground, that rain runs off the surface and builds up at lower levels, causing flooding. This is now an unfortunate but common sight, especially in the traditionally cooler months.

At the same time, successive governments have pressed for increased housebuilding to help a growing population to find a home. This huge expansion (the current Government is planning to build 1.5 million homes in the duration of the current Parliament to 2029) means that developments are springing up across the country.

This might require clearance of planned sites, which might then remove the natural protection from the potential of flooding. Or the rush to build puts climatic concerns further down the list of issues to be concerned about.

At the end of September, Aviva's chief executive Amanda Blanc warned that some homes being built in England today could become uninsurable in the future. Speaking on the BBC's Big Boss Interview podcast, she said that if current building patterns continue, a further 115,000 new homes will be built in flood zones over the next decade. She also pointed to this summer: heavy rain falling on very dry ground leads to more surface water flooding.

Her warning builds on Aviva research published in February, which found that one in nine (11%) new homes built in England between 2022 and 2024 are in areas at medium or high risk of flooding, up from 8% for homes built between 2013 and 2022. Aviva projects that, by 2050, the proportion of these new-build homes at medium or high risk will rise to 15% (or roughly one in seven homes), and almost a third (30%) will be at some level of risk from flooding in the same time period.

Aviva points at Greater London and Essex as having the highest number of constituencies at risk from such flooding and is calling on the Government to strengthen the planning laws to avoid allotting areas for building that are already at medium to high risk of flooding.

Proportion of constituencies with new homes built in medium- or high-risk areas (2022 to 2024)

Source: Aviva

The flooding problem is exacerbated when building new developments in risky flood zones because of external factors, which means that, unchecked, such plans and the drive for building homes to meet targets without consideration for what is happening in nature will only worsen the problem.

Additionally, as Aviva points out, such properties are likely to be increasingly uninsurable as the insurance companies are unlikely to want to take the financial risk. Or the risk is deemed so high that insurance policies are simply unaffordable to the average homeowner.

Jason Storah, CEO UK & Ireland General Insurance, Aviva, said of the findings:

"We support the Government's plans to build more homes to help drive economic growth.

Aviva, as a long-term investor in the UK, has already committed £25 billion over the next decade, including into social infrastructure, to support national growth and economic resilience.

However, this growth needs to be sustainable and it's vital, therefore, that new homes are built in the right places and with resilience in mind to help homeowners get ready for future impacts.

As our analysis shows, too many new homes have been built in higher risk areas.

It's particularly worrying that this trend has risen in recent years, just as house building accelerates.

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."

If you are thinking of buying a new-build home, don't be seduced into thinking that "brand new" is the same as "no faults". A chartered surveyor is as important for a new-build property as they are for an older home. They can look at elements of the build and construction, but they can also provide their independent and expert assessment of other factors that need to be looked into, such as boundaries with neighbouring properties and the effect of potential flooding in the area.

The surveyor can also highlight individual points for the attention of your conveyancing solicitor (e.g. planning and building regulations), while also recommending expert reports, including a flood risk report, so that you know exactly what you are buying and what the ongoing costs for insurance and maintenance are likely to be.

Whatever your plans for moving home or buying your next property, make sure that your budget includes the survey.

Call  to get your no-obligation survey quote started, or to discuss your concerns about the property you plan to buy. Every surveyor on our nationwide panel is a chartered member of RICS, and they will look for all kinds of problems, including the impact of prior flooding on the structure of the property.

Or use our quick survey quote generator. Enter your name, postcode, email address, phone number and an approximate value of the property (usually the agreed price) for an instant quote with an email copy, and we'll do the rest once you accept.