Question to the Department for Levelling Up, Housing & Communities:

To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, what guidance is Department issues to local authorities on building proposals for new homes on flood plains.

The National Planning Policy Framework states that inappropriate development in areas at risk of flooding should be directed away from areas at highest risk, including floodplains. If new homes are necessary in a flood risk area, and no suitable sites at lower risk are available, the local authority should ensure that the development will be safe and will not increase flood risk elsewhere. Where those tests are not met, development should not be allowed.