Thousands of flood victims missing out on vital government support to help protect their homes from future storms

• Data obtained by climate education charity, One Home, shows the Government’s £5,000 Property Flood Resilience (PFR) grant scheme is comprehensively failing to reach those who need it most.
• The PFR grant scheme enables homeowners whose houses have flooded to apply for a £5,000 grant to help make their property more resilient to future storms.
• Following Storms Babet in October 2023 and Henk in January 2024, 27 local authorities opened applications for the grant, with more than 4,000 homes and businesses eligible to apply.
• Yet after Storm Babet, just 7 applications were received out of 94 eligible homeowners in Norfolk, and despite 205 homes being eligible on the Isle of Wight just 24 applications were received.
• Following Storm Henk, Herefordshire, Nottinghamshire, Oxfordshire and the Royal Borough of Windsor and Maidenhead have all seen low application rates.
• In Herefordshire and Windsor and Maidenhead NO grants have been paid in full 15 months on from Storm Henk, despite a total of 125 eligible households.
• Applications for PFR grants relating to Storm Babet closed in April and will close to Storm Henk in July.
• As one in four homes is set to be at risk of flooding by 2050, One Home CEO calls on the Government to raise awareness of the PFR grant scheme, implement more efficient support for flood victims and ensure new build homes have better adaptation measures in place.

Data obtained by climate education charity, One Home, today reveals very low numbers of successful applications for the Government’s Property Flood Resilience (PFR) grant in the wake of Storms Babet and Henk – meaning thousands of flood victims across England are missing out on funding which could help protect their home against future storm damage.

Meanwhile, many of those who have had their application approved may face a year-long wait for the grant – which pays up to £5,000 – to hit their bank accounts.

The PFR grant scheme, which launched in 2013, is activated by ministers after severe flooding, and administered by local authorities. It gives homeowners who have been impacted by floods the opportunity to apply for cash to help make their property more resilient to future storms by ‘building back better’.

Applications were opened to eligible homeowners by 16 local authorities following the devastating effects of Storm Babet – which swept through England and Wales in October 2023 bringing high winds and heavy rain and causing power outages, extensive disruption to road and rail transport and widespread flooding.

However, despite the widespread flooding caused by Storm Babet, Freedom of Information (FOI) figures show that many local authorities did not receive significant volumes of grant applications, and only a handful of those eligible have received the grant in full 18 months after the storm.

In Norfolk there were 94 eligible households but only 7 grant applications received, whilst on the Isle of Wight, just 24 applications were received out of 205 eligible homes, with just 5 (2%) of all those eligible having actually been paid in full.

In Suffolk, where 909 households and businesses were eligible only 203 applications were received, and only 15% of the total eligible households have so far received a full grant payment.

It was a similar picture for applications following Storm Henk, which lashed the country with damaging winds and heavy rain in January 2024, prompting the Government to instruct affected local authorities to launch applications again.

In Herefordshire, where people were trapped in their homes by floodwater, 31 properties eligible BUT only 2 applications were received, with no eligible households receiving any money yet. In Nottinghamshire, 73 applications were received with 384 property owners eligible to apply, yet only 9 (2%) of all those eligible for the grant have, to date, received full funds.

Meanwhile in Oxfordshire, where 214 were eligible, only 43 applications were received and just 18 (8%) of all those eligible to apply have received grant money in full. In the Royal Borough of Windsor and Maidenhead, 94 households were eligible and 25 applications were received but none have received their funding yet.

And while Surrey had 94 homes eligible and received 66 applications for the grant, just four (4%) of all those eligible to apply have so far received funds – over a year after the storm hit with a similar situation in Somerset which had 76 homes eligible and received 73 applications for the grant, just three (4%) of all those eligible to apply have so far received funds.

Local authorities with some of the lowest PFR grant funding rates after Storm Babet

Local authorities with some of the lowest PFR grant funding rates after Storm Henk

Measures the PFR grant can fund include the installation of tiled flooring, plastic skirting boards and plinths, raising electrical points and using water resilient materials to lessen the need for repair and replacement; however many local authorities may require homeowners to pay for a property survey before they can even apply.

One Home CEO and Net Zero Energy Pioneer 2024, Angela Terry, said:

“Sadly it’s clear that the PFR grant scheme is not supporting flood victims in their most desperate time of need, with a huge disconnect between the number of homeowners who are eligible to apply and those actually doing so. What’s more, when we look at the amount of people receiving funding, it’s a tiny proportion of all those that are eligible. Local authorities ask homeowners to pay out for hefty survey costs before they can even apply for the grant, so it’s not surprising that so many are put off by the red tape, low success rates and long wait times. What’s more, the value of the grant hasn’t increased since it launched almost a decade ago, so given inflation and the high costs of building materials, the support is very small. 

The impact of flooding is catastrophic for homeowners, both from a financial and emotional viewpoint. With an estimated one in four houses at risk of flooding by 2050, due to more frequent and extreme storms caused by climate change, we urgently need schemes that offer better and faster support. 

I implore the Government to take more decisive action in investing in flood prevention and resilience measures and in increasing public awareness of both the risks and the support available. It  must also ensure that the 1.5 million homes it wants built over the next five years are equipped to cope with global warming.” 

Flood resilience expert and campaigner Mary Long-Dhonau said: “Newly flooded people have an awful lot to deal with after a flood. Due to the complex bureaucracy involved when applying for a PFR grant, I’m not surprised that so few are able to actually follow the complicated application process through to the end. The process really should be simplified.

However, due to increased flood risk caused by climate change, I would encourage everyone who is eligible to apply and see the process through, as these measures will help to protect your home if you’re flooded again in the future.”

Siobhan Connor founded the Shrewsbury Flood Action Group after suffering repeated flooding in her home. She has previously applied for the Property Flood Resilience scheme. Siobhan said: “The PFR grant scheme is not worth the paper it’s written on. There is so much red tape to go through and you also have to pay upfront for a £500 survey, which in my opinion is nothing more than a Google map search. The PFR grant is a poor substitute for lack of investment in flooded areas and certainly has no longevity or climate change impacts built in. It’s nothing more than a sticking plaster.” 

Whilst the PFR grant scheme is a Government initiative, it is administered by the relevant local authorities who are responsible for assessing and approving individual applications as well as distributing the grants, which run for 18 months to allow time for works to be completed. 

In the case of Storms Babet and Henk, Defra will pay the local authority the value of the recovery work up to £5,000 per property, inclusive of VAT, on completion of installations. Applications for PFR grants relating to Storm Babet closed in April and for Storm Henk will close in June. 

One Home is a UK charity which helps households adapt to a low cost, low carbon lifestyle and increase resilience to extreme weather. One Home provides impartial information and advice on practical solutions that improve people’s lives whilst saving money and reducing carbon emissions. 

For more information visit One Home, or check out its property flood prevention tips here.

-ENDS

Notes to editors

* Norfolk County Council: “Where there are less than 5 applications the number has been replaced with ‘less than 5’.  This is because small numbers when combined with other information that may be available could lead to the identification of individuals and is therefore exempt under Regulation 13(1) of the Environmental Information Regulations, which states that if the information constitutes personal data about a third party and any of the data protection principles would be contravened by the release of the information, the County Council is not required to provide the information. This part of your request is therefore refused, and this email acts as a Refusal Notice.”

27 FOI requests were sent to local authorities who Defra confirmed to be administering PFR grants triggered by storms Babet and Henk. 

Responses were received from 25: 

• Gloucestershire County Council; Herefordshire County Council; Leicester City Council; Malvern Hills District Council; Oxfordshire County Council; Royal Borough of Windsor and Maidenhead Unitary Authority; Surrey County Council; Tower Hamlets London Borough Council; Warwickshire County Council; West Berkshire District Council; Cheshire West and Chester City Council; City of Derby Council; Derbyshire County Council; Isle of Wight County Council; Norfolk County Council; Rotherham District Council; Suffolk County Council; Telford and Wrekin County Council; Leicestershire County Council; Lincolnshire County Council; Nottinghamshire County Council; Shropshire County Council; Somerset County Council, Wiltshire County Council; Worcester City Council; Wychavon District Council. 

We are still waiting for a response from Staffordshire County Council.

For more information please contact Angela Terry, Chief Executive, One Home

press@onehome.org.uk 

About Angela

One Home was founded by Angela Terry MSc MEI, an environmental scientist with over 25 years’ experience in the renewables industry. Angela set up One Home to raise awareness of positive climate solutions and help UK households to adapt to a low cost, low carbon lifestyle. 

In 2024, Angela was voted Net Zero Energy Pioneer at the Green Energy Awards. Angela was a pioneer of community energy in the UK as Development Director for Energy4All, Head of Wood Fuel for the Forestry Commission, Policy Manager for RES, and worked as a carbon scientist in New Zealand.

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