BIBA responds to National Planning Policy Framework consultation

“A key aspect of climate change adaptation is managing the increasing risks posed by flood events, whether at the coast or inland. We have heard that aspects of current planning policy for flood risk could be clearer or more proportionate, and so would welcome views on potential improvements” MHCLG.

BIBA supports members and their clients through its response to the consultation to reform the National Planning Policy Framework. By engaging with the insurance industry and Government we aim to help U.K. homes and businesses access flood insurance.

BIBA calls and summary of key points in our response:

1. Planning, and changes to the planning system, can have an impact on maintaining the supply of affordable flood insurance. Insurance supports the availability of lending and can underpin community resilience.
2. Increased urbanisation and climate change are shifting the risk of flooding from more remote possibility to greater certainty for many homes and businesses.
3. There is a risk of reduced insurer capacity and appetite if the NPPF does not consider flood mitigation when planning consent is agreed in areas at risk of flooding.
4. An uplift in density in urban areas requires careful consideration of flood mitigation in planning to avoid increased surface water flooding: “When determining any planning applications, local planning authorities should ensure that flood risk is not increased elsewhere.” NPPF 2023.
5. Cross -boundary strategic development could be harnessed to avoid building on flood plains and high-risk areas: “Inappropriate development in areas at risk of flooding should be avoided by directing development away from areas at highest risk (whether existing or future).”NPPF 2023.
6. The Government could consider how it supports the small Property Flood Resilience industry to scale up and meet demand.
7. Schedule 3 to the Floods and Water Management Act of 2010 requires implementation.
8. We should not forget businesses, especially SMEs. Perhaps one of the roles of the new Floods Resilience Taskforce would be to organise a national survey to understand access to, and affordability of commercial flood insurance for UK businesses.

We therefore urge the Government to strengthen the NPPF to require that local authorities have sufficient capability to assess all development plans against the risk of river, coastal and surface water flooding and to mitigate through mandatory sustainable drainage and mandatory property level flood protection measures at the planning stage.  This could be supported by a statutory consultee.

Members may also be interested in BIBA’s flood insurance signposting with ABI and Flood Re, which directs consumers to brokers and insurance providers who can help arrange cover for properties at risk of flooding Find Insurance – BIBA

By email to:  [email protected]

View our consultation response below. 

Dear Consultation Team,

BIBA Response – Proposed reforms to the National Planning Policy Framework and other changes to the planning system

The British Insurance Brokers’ Association (BIBA) is the UK’s leading general insurance intermediary organisation representing the interests of insurance brokers, intermediaries and their customers.

BIBA membership includes more than 1,800 regulated firms, employing more than 100,000 staff. General insurance brokers contribute 1% of GDP to the UK economy. They arrange 77% of all general insurance with a premium totalling £105.5bn and 94% of all commercial insurance business.

BIBA receives hundreds of thousands of enquiries per year to its Find Insurance Services, online and via the telephone.

BIBA is the voice of the insurance broking sector and advises members, the regulators, consumer bodies and other stakeholders on key insurance matters.

The following represents the response of the Association. It does not represent a complete response to all the questions raised, but focuses on those questions on which our members share an interest.

Executive Summary

“A key aspect of climate change adaptation is managing the increasing risks posed by flood events, whether at the coast or inland. We have heard that aspects of current planning policy for flood risk could be clearer or more proportionate, and so would welcome views on potential improvements.”

Planning, and changes to the planning system, have an impact on maintaining the supply of affordable flood insurance.

Insurance for flood losses is a vital protection for households and businesses. It supports physical recovery from the devastating effects of flooding, as well as providing financial resilience.

Flood insurance can help households fund alternative accommodation whilst their homes are repaired (drying out may take many months). Commercial flood cover can compensate businesses for lost profits and increased cost of working.

Flood insurance helps ensure more businesses can survive and together with home insurance, protects the economic prosperity of a community.

But as climate change shifts flood risk along the continuum, from more remote possibility to greater certainty for many homes and businesses (witness 12 named storms in the 2023-24 season), there will be rising economic losses. There is a risk of reduced insurer appetite and capacity if losses are commercially unsustainable. This will impact households and businesses – and by extension, the resilience of wider UK plc.

Mortgage lender uncertainty about homes built in areas at risk of flooding has been well-reported in 2024. Homes built from 2009 are not eligible to the Flood Re scheme (which itself ends in 2039) so flood cover relies on the open market.

There is no Flood Re backstop for SMEs to access flood insurance. “SMEs account for 99.9% of the business population (5.6 million businesses)”; Federation of Small Businesses. There is support from commercial flood schemes https://www.biba.org.uk/members/biba-schemes/commercial-property-with-flood-cover/ and parametric insurance, but we do not know the size of the issue. To that end, we would ask Government to commission a national survey to understand access to, and affordability of, commercial flood insurance for these economic groups.

Our point is, that if developers and planners do not take into account flood risk mitigation in new homes (and new commercial premises) at risk of flooding, will there be a sustainable market to fund and insure these homes?

We are pleased to note the launch of the new cross Government Floods Resilience Taskforce that will have a function to take a long-term, strategic approach to underpin the resilience of the economy to the growing threat of climate change.  As part of that, we urge the Government to embed within the NPPF stronger, vision-led flood resilience that focusses on the outcome for communities and therefore our economy, and how planning will achieve this.

Chapter 3 – Planning for the homes we need > Questions 4, 5 and 14

“Plans should promote an uplift in density in urban areas” (Chapter 1)

BIBA is aware from the global insurance market that urbanisation is a significant factor in increasing claims losses over the last 20 years. As yet, climate change may not be the main reason for the increase in exposure to flooding in the urban built environment.

The New Scientist when comparing flood models after Hurricane Harvey in Houston identified; “Land covered in vegetation soaks up much of the rain that falls on it. It has long been realised that when roads, buildings and paving replace plants, the water instead flows straight into rivers, meaning the same amount of rain can produce far more flooding downstream.“

They go on to say; “Houston was shockingly unprepared, not least because its flood control directors think talk of climate change is a plot to prevent development, and its planning system fails to prevent building in the most at-risk areas.”

BIBA believes there is learning in this. We hope the Government doesn’t perceive flood mitigation in planning as a blocker. Instead, there are lessons to be learned about property flood resilience and recoverability through planning.

Chapter 9 – Supporting green energy and the environment

Question 78 Tackling Climate Change

In what specific, deliverable ways could national planning policy do more to address climate change mitigation and adaptation?

We welcome the Secretary of State for MHCLG’s announcement of a cross -boundary strategic ambition for development, as this could avoid building on flood plains and high-risk areas.  The existing NPPF states the planning system should contribute to the sustainable development, and that ‘planning policies and decisions should play an active role in guiding development towards sustainable solutions, but in doing so should take local circumstances into account, to reflect the character, needs and opportunities of each area.’

In the matter of flood risk, we believe there needs to be greater checking of compliance with planning conditions for building flood mitigation measures as this would give greater confidence to those that will live and work in new developments. Deviations from planning consent in the final build should be monitored and original consent enforced.

Question 80

Are any changes needed to policy for managing flood risk to improve its effectiveness?

1. Surface water flooding is a growing issue and urban areas all over the UK are more susceptible because they have more hard surfaces and concrete. In identifying land for development, the government mentions ‘plans should promote an uplift in density in urban areas’ and ‘optimising density’. This aim could be in direct conflict with the increasing risk of surface water flooding if not managed.

2. We witnessed live on television the effect of surface water flooding overwhelming town centres like Northwich (Storm Christof January 2021). This incident negated entirely the flood barriers installed by the Environment Agency, which held, but the town still flooded because existing drainage could not cope. July 2021 surface water flooding in West London was notable for its basement flooding.

3. Design and planning for property flood resilience in new homes in known areas at risk of flooding is essential in creating sustainable communities. Supporting the small Property Flood Resilience industry to equip new builds and retrofit existing homes and businesses would support economic growth as well as a more diverse housebuilding sector.

4. Schedule 3 to the Floods and Water Management Act of 2010, to make the incorporation of sustainable drainage systems (SuDS) mandatory in new developments in England, has yet to be implemented. SuDS schemes can also have environmental benefits as they ‘green’ communities.

5. To maximise the benefits and ensure sustainable lower risk communities, developers could indemnify councils and communities that their developments will not increase surface water flooding, which would be at a cost to those communities and local councils.

6. The delivery of a sustainable and modern economy is dependent on the health and resilience of its population and businesses to increased flooding that seems to escalate through climate change. The immediate impact of flooding can be devastating but also cast a longer shadow on physical and mental health of the population.

7. It is therefore vital that the NPPF is sufficiently robust to ensure that new developments are resilient to the increasing risk of flooding, particularly as the Government aims to build 1.5 million homes over the next five years.

Summary of Key Points

1. Planning, and changes to the planning system, can have an impact on maintaining the supply of affordable flood insurance. Insurance supports the availability of lending and can underpin community resilience.
2. Increased urbanisation and climate change are shifting the risk of flooding from more remote possibility to greater certainty for many homes and businesses.
3. There is a risk of reduced insurer capacity and appetite if the NPPF does not consider flood mitigation when planning consent is agreed in areas at risk of flooding.
4. An uplift in density in urban areas requires careful consideration of flood mitigation in planning to avoid increased surface water flooding: “When determining any planning applications, local planning authorities should ensure that flood risk is not increased elsewhere.” NPPF 2023.
5. Cross -boundary strategic development could be harnessed to avoid building on flood plains and high-risk areas: “Inappropriate development in areas at risk of flooding should be avoided by directing development away from areas at highest risk (whether existing or future).”NPPF 2023.

6. The Government could consider how it supports the small Property Flood Resilience industry to scale up and meet demand.
7. Schedule 3 to the Floods and Water Management Act of 2010 requires implementation.
8. We should not forget businesses, especially SMEs. Perhaps one of the roles of the new Floods Resilience Taskforce would be to organise a national survey to understand access to, and affordability of commercial flood insurance for UK businesses.

We therefore urge the Government to strengthen the NPPF to require that local authorities have sufficient capability to assess all development plans against the risk of river, coastal and surface water flooding and to mitigate through mandatory sustainable drainage and mandatory property level flood protection measures at the planning stage.  This could be supported by a statutory consultee.

Note : This consultation response is made on behalf of the British Insurance Brokers’ Association (BIBA) by Shaune Worrall, Deputy Head of General Insurance [email protected]