Do you know? Aviva says 115,000 new homes could be built in flood zones in England over the next decade based on current building patterns.
Amanda Blanc, chief executive of insurance and pensions group Aviva, has warned that some homes being built today could become uninsurable in the future because of increasing flood risk.
Speaking to the BBC, Blanc said the risk of flooding was “absolutely increasing” and questioned whether it made sense to continue building homes in areas exposed to flooding.
What Aviva is warning about
Blanc said current construction patterns indicated that 115,000 new homes would be built in flood zones over the next 10 years. She said England was building homes that could become uninsurable at some point in the future and urged greater care over where new properties are developed.
She also said construction bordering flood zones required a different approach. According to Blanc, changes to properties could make them more or less vulnerable to flooding.
“We need to think about where those homes are being built,” Blanc told the BBC.
Flood exposure and future risk
The Environment Agency estimates that about 6.3 million homes and businesses in England are at risk of flooding. Aviva research found that one in nine homes built between 2022 and 2024 was at medium to high risk of flooding.
Aviva’s research also estimated that nearly a third of new homes built in 2024 would face some risk of flooding by 2050. It said one in seven could be at medium to high risk as extreme weather becomes more acute.
These figures are estimates and research findings cited by Aviva and do not mean that every property identified as being at risk will become uninsurable.
Why the issue matters to insurers and builders
Flood exposure can affect the long-term insurability of homes, as well as decisions about where and how properties are built. Blanc’s comments put pressure on policymakers and developers to consider future flood conditions rather than relying only on current risk assessments.
The warning comes as the Met Office has estimated that, with current levels of global warming, record-breaking wet winters such as the UK experienced in 2023-24 could become more frequent. The Met Office estimate cited by the BBC suggests such winters could shift from once-in-80-year events to once-in-20-year events.
What happens next
The BBC said it had approached the government for comment. The source article did not include a government response.
Blanc’s comments were made during a wider BBC interview in which she also discussed Aviva’s investment in UK infrastructure and pensions. The flood-risk warning was presented as part of the company’s broader concerns about long-term policy and economic decisions.
Bottom line
Aviva is warning that development decisions made now could create future insurance problems for homes exposed to flooding. The company says builders and policymakers need to give greater consideration to flood risk and property resilience as extreme weather risks increase.
Source
This report is based on information published by BBC Business.
