Homeowners across England will gain a clearer picture of their property’s flood risk under plans unveiled by the Government and Flood Re.
New Flood Performance Certificates (FPCs) will be piloted to provide clear, standardised information on flood risk and resilience, reflecting the steps taken to protect them and where further action is needed, News Cover reports, citing the UK government's official website.
The goal is for FPCs to be a trusted source of information, similar to how Energy Performance Certificates are for energy. They will pilot approaches such as a ‘Flood Performance Rating’, which breaks a property’s flood risk down to categories such as exposure, characteristics and resistance. This will draw on flood risk information already available through the ‘Check Your Flood Risk’ service, covering risks such as rivers and surface water.
By helping people understand their vulnerabilities and how they can be addressed, FPCs are intended to drive greater uptake of practical resilience measures and support more climate-resilient communities. Household can invest in items, like self-closing air bricks, flood resilient kitchens and flood barriers.
Being introduced by Flood Re, work on pilots to test the certificates will start this year in areas at risk of flooding, with a growing number of pilots also taking place throughout 2027 and beyond.
Flood Re’s ambition is for app-based flood self-assessments to become routine, helping people understand their individual risk, take steps to mitigate it, and in time have these actions recognised by their insurers.
