Environment Agency research finds flood recovery support is fragmented and inconsistent

Understanding and supporting the flood recovery process was published by the Environment Agency on 3 November (Environment Agency). Eunomia Research & Consulting carried out the work with the National Flood Forum. It drew on a review of more than 100 publications, national stakeholder interviews, and case studies in Bewdley, Looe, Sparkhill and Stockdalewath (Water Magazine). Its central message is that recovery is a long process of adaptation, not a return to how things were, and that institutions are not organised for that.

What we know

• Unclear responsibilities. Residents are often left to work out which organisation is responsible for what. Coordination is particularly hard in two-tier council areas.
• Like-for-like repairs miss the chance to make properties more resilient.
• Build Back Better under-used. Flood Re's scheme offers up to £10,000 for resilience measures within an insurance claim, but uptake was 33% against a 50% target. Residents said the £10,000 also has to cover surveys (full report).
• Insurance gaps. One Bewdley resident waited 15 months for an insurance payout, and a 2023 survey in Looe found 35% of businesses had no flood insurance.
• Unequal recovery. The summary says low-income households, tenants and minority groups face longer displacement and less support. Rural communities such as Stockdalewath face slower responses (slide pack).
• Long tail. Effects on mental health persist long after repairs are finished.

The report groups its fixes into four areas: government support for resilient rebuilding; better coordination and longer-term community support; mental health provision; and more accessible grants and insurance.

Background

The report credits some real progress. A Defra interviewee said that during Storm Babet the government's flood recovery framework was activated in 6 days, compared with 6 weeks in 2019. Citing Flood Re, it says 99% of high-risk households could get quotes from 15 or more insurers by 2024 (full report).

It also sets out structural gaps. Local authorities must have emergency response plans under the Civil Contingencies Act 2004, but recovery plans are not a statutory requirement. Property flood resilience repair grants are activated case by case, and interviewees described a "postcode lottery" in how councils run them. On Build Back Better, the report notes that Flood Re's July 2024 quinquennial review recommended that the £10,000 cover only resilience installation, not surveys. It adds that Flood Re has asked the government to raise the cap to £15,000 per house plus the survey.

The scale of exposure is growing. The Environment Agency's 2024 national assessment put 6.3 million properties in England in areas at risk of flooding from rivers, the sea or surface water. It said climate change could push that to about 8 million by mid-century (Environment Agency).

6.3m

Source: Environment Agency, 2024 ↗

What we don't know yet

• Whether the government will respond to Flood Re's request to raise the Build Back Better cap.
• Why uptake of Build Back Better is low. The report itself flags this as a data gap.
• Whether ministers will make local flood recovery plans a statutory requirement.

What to watch

• Any update to the government's flood recovery framework guidance for local authorities.
• Flood Re's next figures on Build Back Better take-up.
• Whether new regional water bodies take on flood recovery coordination.