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

To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what progress the Government is making on devising a flood insurance plan for leasehold properties similar to Flood Re.

The Government is aware of a small number of examples of leasehold properties at high flood risk that are citing high premiums for buildings insurance. The Government and Association of British Insurers (ABI) and BIBA have committed to monitoring the market for properties which are out of scope for Flood Re.

A clear decision was taken that Flood Re is not able to provide support for those landlords or management companies with commercial insurance, which would include leasehold blocks of flats that contain 4 or more units; if individual leaseholders are responsible for securing their own buildings insurance then they are eligible for Flood Re. Leasehold blocks containing 3 units or fewer where the freeholder(s) lives in one of the units to be insured would be eligible if they meet the qualifying eligibility criteria. Leaseholders are already eligible for contents insurance under Flood Re.

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 a possible solution by offering individual policies to insure the structure of their property, thus allowing the leaseholder to access Flood Re.