Flood Re, the UK’s government-backed reinsurance scheme, has welcomed an announcement that £2.9 million in funding has been awarded to three flood resilience projects across the UK.
The projects in Yorkshire, Devon and Cornwall, and Central England will receive up to £700,000 to boost research into property-level flood resilience measures, and to promote their uptake.
Measures will include new research initiatives, demonstration centres and advice portals, which will aim to communicate the benefits of installing property flood resilience measures.
“The Government’s £2.9m investment in flood resilience projects across England is a welcomed step forward in improving the take-up of resilience measures for homes in flood-prone areas,” said Andy Bord, Chief Executive of Flood Re. “This is important so that homes can reduce the risk of, or damage caused by, flooding.
Flood Re is designed to end in 2039, so a focus on increasing the resilience of households in high flood-risk areas is critical to ensure that the home insurance market can continue to function effectively, Bord explained.
Measures such as those proposed by the resilience projects will also help to keep insurance premiums affordable for those in at-risk homes.
Bord continued: “In our recently published Quinquennial review, which looks at the steps needed for an affordable home insurance market by the time Flood Re ends, we highlighted the importance of encouraging more properties across the UK to be made resilient to flooding.”
“We hope that valuable lessons are learnt from these Pathfinder projects, which can be applied more broadly across the UK and help improve our understanding of encouraging take-up,” he added.
