Nsurers issue new flood warning for Thames Gateway

The government’s plan to build 200,000 homes in the South-east could increase the cost of clearing up flood damage by £55m each year, a report has warned.

The study, published on Monday by the Association of British Insurers, said up to 10,000 homes in the government’s four growth areas were particularly prone to flooding.

It said the Thames Gateway growth area would account for more than £47m of the £55m extra cash needed if no action was taken to prevent flooding.

However, the report added that the cost of flood clear-ups could be significantly reduced by measures such as improving flood defences or building types of home resistant to floods, such as flats with parking on the ground floor.

The report, Making Communities Sustainable: Managing Flood Risk in the Growth Areas, found that moving properties away from flood plains and increasing density in other areas to 50-100 homes a hectare would reduce flood risk by between 89% and 96% outside the Gateway. Within the Gateway, where a larger number of properties are planned in flood plain areas, moving homes would halve flood losses.

Dr Sebastian Cartovsky, policy adviser at the Association of British Insurers said: “The report is the first time we have really quantified the scale of risk and come up with a programme to deal with it. We are saying the government has accepted the Gateway as the right place for new homes and should factor in flood risk so they can minimise cost in future.”

The government has accepted the Gateway. It should factor in flood risk to minimise costs

Dr Sebastian Cartovsky, ABI

He added that insurance premiums would increase if anti-flood measures were not taken. He said: “These costs would have to be borne by the insurance industry and would be reflected in premiums and what insurance is offered. If the risk is properly managed, we see no reason why insurance wouldn’t be competitively priced and readily available for the growth areas.”

Alex Nickson, environment officer at the Thames Gateway London Partnership, said he agreed with the findings as long as they were not taken as a reason not to build in the Gateway.

He said: “A lot of it is fair and it’s down to the planning system to mitigate risk, but that’s very different to saying not to develop. We must be creative about flood risk to enable high-quality sustainable development.”

The Thames Gateway London Partnership and the Association of British Insurers are undertaking a flood risk assessment of east London in order to show developers what types of building they should put in each location to minimise flood risk.