A new consultation on flood funding has been announced at today’s Flood & Coast conference, at which SWM has been in attendance.
6.3 million homes and businesses in England are at risk from flooding. With climate change, the total number of properties at risk from flooding could increase to 8 million by the middle of the century – or around one in four properties. Around 3,500 properties are at risk of being lost to coastal erosion by 2055.
Defra, who lead the national response to addressing flood risk, are developing a new flood investment strategy. They want this to be simple, flexible, and strategic to deliver timely interventions and build national resilience.
Emma Hardy, Minister for Water and Flooding in Defra, announced today (3 June 2025) a new consultation on aspects of this new strategy at the Flood & Coast conference in Telford. SWM were in attendance and listened to the speech.
“We are committed to making every pound we invest count, and ensuring our flood resilience and coastal erosion investment policy enables new innovative approaches that respond to current challenges and prepare us for the future. Today, the Department has launched a consultation on reforming our approach to investing in flooding and coastal erosion for communities across the country.”
Emma Hardy, Minister for Water and Flooding, Defra
This consultation is asking for feedback on two main proposals:
- The first is on Defra’s proposed simplified approach to funding new flood resilience projects
- The second is on our proposed approach to prioritise flood resilience projects
The consultation also includes a call for evidence on two wider floods investment areas, seeking views on alternative sources of funding to enable government funding to go further as well as exploring opportunities for English devolution to support flood risk management.
