1 in 10 Properties in UK Built on a Floodplain – a Sump Pump is Essential!

Do you live or own a business in one of an estimated 2.4 million properties at annual risk from coastal erosion, river flooding or being built on a flood plain?

It’s more than likely that the need for installing a sump pump permanently in the basement or cellar will have definitely risen to the top of your urgent ‘things to do’ in recent years. Especially if your home or business premises is located near the coast, a riverside area or built on a Type 3 flood plain.

Coastal erosion and rising sea levels

If you live in Cornwall, the east coast, the Kent and Sussex coastal areas, some areas of land are constantly being returned to the sea. It’s not just coastal erosion but also tidal flooding and rising sea levels, year on year. The gradual destruction of sea defences is accelerating the permanent loss of a home or business that invariably becomes overwhelmed by the rising volumes of water.

Tidal surges and bursting river banks

Riverside locations, too, where many of Britain’s oldest and more recent settlements were built, are increasingly prone to tidal surges coming upriver from the sea, as well as rivers bursting their banks from significant rainfall over a short period of time. Regional areas at risk include, Somerset, Kent, Essex, Norfolk, Cambridgeshire, Lincolnshire and Yorkshire.

Homes built on a floodplain most prone

However, there is now great concern over the increasing number of properties which continue to be built on a known flood plain, which is extremely vulnerable to heavy rainfall and fast flowing rivers causing burst banks. Areas of high demand, such as the south and east England can be most prone because houses are built in a region of extensive river and groundwater systems.

Latest available data shows that a worrying 1 in 10 (11 per cent) of all new homes built in England were constructed in Type 3 flood zones – an area the Environment Agency defines as an area with “1 in 100 or greater annual probability of river flooding”, i.e. a floodplain (Ministry of Housing, Communities & Local Government, 2016-17).

Figures obtained under the Freedom of Information Act also show that since 2011/12 more than 1,200 residential properties were approved for construction despite flood risk advice being fully or partially overruled.

‘Flash flood’ surface water

Properties in urban areas are increasingly under threat from surface water flooding, which is caused by damage to drains as a result of rivers bursting their banks and overwhelming drainage systems. Areas frequently affected include Merseyside, Buckinghamshire, Wiltshire, Lincoln, Yorkshire and Cumbria.