UK Government taking action with flood defence investment
- Written by
Lauren Legate- Published
- February 12, 2025
Last week, the UK government announced a record-breaking investment of £2.65 billion over the next two years into new flood defences and repairing existing defences.
As part of the Plan for Change, the investment is set to benefit 52,000 properties from new defences by March 2026. To shore up creaking defences in need of repairs, funding will be reprioritised for investment in much-needed maintenance, benefitting a further 14,500 properties. This means a total of 66,500 properties will benefit from this funding.
Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs Steve Reed said: “Under our Plan for Change, we are investing a record £2.65 billion to build and maintenance flood defences to protect lives, homes and businesses from the dangers of flooding.”
This current Government inherited flood assets in their poorest condition on record, as years of underinvestment and damaging storms left 3,000 of the Environment Agency’s 38,000 high-consequence assets at below the required condition.
With 1 in 5 homes in the UK at risk of flooding and 1 in 3 commercial properties also at risk, the need for action to protect these homes from experiencing the devastating impacts of flooding is a high priority. 56% of flooding doesn’t occur from rivers or coastal but from surface water which occurs when drainage systems become overwhelmed by heavy rainfall and flow into surrounding streets and buildings.
This funding will be spread across 1000 projects all around England such as, Tidal Barrier Flood Defence Scheme in Somerset, The Derby Flood Risk Management Scheme, Poole Bridge to Hunger Hill Flood Defences and support for property flood resilience schemes across Leicestershire, Derbyshire and Nottinghamshire.
Environment Agency Chair Alan Lovell said:
“The impact of flooding on our communities will only become greater as climate change brings more extreme weather, like Storms Bert, Conall and Éowyn. With this new funding, we will work closely with the Government to deliver the vital projects that are needed across the country, ensuring our investment goes to those communities who need it the most.”