Key facts
- New homes built in flood-risk areas could become uninsurable, warned Aviva CEO Amanda Blanc.
- Blanc estimates 115,000 homes will be built in flood zones in the next decade.
- About 6.3 million homes and businesses in England are at risk of flooding.
- This number could rise to 8 million by mid-century due to climate change.
- Aviva research indicates nearly a third of new homes in 2024 face some flood risk by 2050.
- One in seven new homes will be at medium-to-high risk of flooding by 2050.
Homes being constructed in flood-prone areas in the UK could face uninsurability in the future, according to Amanda Blanc, the chief executive of Aviva, Britain's largest insurer. Blanc expressed concern that current building practices are leading to an increasing threat from flooding.
She estimated that if current construction trends persist, approximately 115,000 new homes will be built in flood zones over the next decade. "That doesn’t seem to me to make sense. We need to think about where those homes are being built," Blanc told the BBC.
The Environment Agency previously warned that about 6.3 million homes and businesses in England are already at risk of flooding. This figure could escalate to around 8 million, or one in four properties, by the middle of the century as the climate crisis intensifies.
Blanc highlighted that England is "for sure" constructing properties that may become uninsurable. She noted that while mitigation efforts like flood-proofing properties can be undertaken, careful consideration of building locations is crucial. Aviva's research indicates that by 2050, nearly a third of new homes built in 2024 will be susceptible to some level of flooding, with one in seven facing medium-to-high risk.
Following the exceptionally wet and stormy winter of 2023-24 in the UK, the Met Office estimated that such severe weather events have become four times more frequent, shifting from occurring once every 80 years to once every 20 years.
In a separate comment, Blanc urged the government to avoid speculative policy changes before John Healey's budget on October 28. She noted that in the past two years, speculation about pension reforms led to a significant increase in withdrawals, with one instance seeing 30 times the normal withdrawal rate, which customers might later regret.