Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:

To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what recent assessment he has made of the availability of flood insurance for leasehold properties in blocks of four or more homes.

The government remains in close contact with the Association of British Insurers (ABI) and BIBA, neither of whom has identified a significant problem for leasehold properties accessing flood insurance.

Government is aware that access to insurance remains an issue for a number of leasehold properties in blocks of four or more, where there is particularly high risk. We are following with interest a new service being provided by a BIBA broker which offers to formally vary leasehold agreements in order to give the leaseholder an express obligation to insure the structure of their property, thus allowing the leaseholder to access Flood Re.

In addition, the Government continues to work with commercial interests under the Property Level Resilience Roundtable to promote the uptake of measures that make properties, including leasehold properties, more resilient to flooding. Successes include a one-stop shop flood resilience website, demonstration properties in Cumbria and the development of a Code of Practice.