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

To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, if she will make an assessment of the potential merits of including (a) ingress and (b) egress routes for water in new building developments.

This government recognises the importance of development being resilient to flooding from all sources, including from surface water.

The revised National Planning Policy Framework published on 12 December 2024 makes clear that developments of all sizes should use sustainable drainage techniques where the development could have drainage impacts.

These are designed to control surface water runoff and provide benefits for water quantity, water quality, biodiversity and amenity by lowering flow rates and increasing water storage capacity.