Question to the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government:

To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, what estimate her Department has made of the number of houses that may be build on flood plains between July 2024 and July 2029.

The government is committed to building the homes the country needs while ensuring they are safe from flooding.

The National Planning Policy Framework, which was revised in December 2024, is clear that new housing and most other forms of development should not be permitted in functional flood plains.

Estimates have not been made of the number of homes which might, exceptionally, be built on flood plans, but development proposals would have to pass robust tests to proceed in such locations.

December’s update to the National Planning Policy Framework clarified how the flood risk sequential test should be applied to new development, which is one of the policy tools to steer development away from areas of high flood risk.