Government flood grants a ‘nightmare’ for households and businesses

A postcode lottery is leaving flood-hit households and businesses across England unable to access government funding for flood-proofing, an Unearthed investigation has found.

The Property Flood Resilience (PFR) grant provides up to £5,000 for homes and businesses that have recently flooded to install flood-proofing measures to protect themselves against future events.

The grant is a way of “giving people some peace of mind as they rebuild and repair”, the former environment secretary Thérèse Coffey said last year. 

But the scheme has been described as “opaque” and a “nightmare” by flooding experts, while others have called on the new Labour government to reform the system. 

Data obtained by Unearthed through Freedom of Information requests reveals stark disparities between different local authorities in how many applicants receive the funding.

Data from 2020, the most recent year for which figures are available, shows that across England, 72% of all applications were approved that year.  But while in some councils such as Tunbridge Wells, everybody who applied received funding, while in Calderdale, West Yorkshire, fewer than half of the applications (48%) were successful.

Disparities in how local authorities manage the grants also limit the ability of lower-income households and businesses to benefit from the scheme in some areas, a government evaluation of the scheme found. 

Campaigners also highlighted delays in receiving money, confusion over eligibility, and the up-front costs involved in applying for a grant in some areas. 

The scheme is confusing for some local authorities, said Tracey Garrett, CEO of the National Flood Forum, a charity that helps flooding victims: “There are no rules or governance around how the grant is activated. It’s all very opaque. We need proper governance on it so it’s clear when it is activated and how to access it.

Heather Shepherd, a flood consultant, said the PFR grants process is a “nightmare” and that there is a lack of support for flood victims generally.

“The grant process is a nightmare and people don’t have the energy for it if they’ve just been through the trauma of a flood, particularly when they don’t even receive the money from the grant until after the work has been completed,” she said.

‘There’s nothing we can do’

Lynn and Hans Shortt live in Attleborough, Norfolk. After their home flooded at Christmas 2020, they applied for a PFR grant but heard nothing for over a year. 

“It was the most heartbreaking thing I’ve ever seen,” said Lynn of the 2020 flood. “All our belongings on the ground floor were covered in filth and most were destroyed.”

A surveyor recommended flood-proofing measures but they received no money to help install them. 

“We didn’t put all the recommended measures in as we simply couldn’t afford it,” she told Unearthed. “We bought a flood barrier and painted the brickwork on the outside of the house, but that was all we could afford.”

To qualify for a grant, a certain number of homes have to be affected within a local authority. Although the Shortts were advised to apply for the grant by the council, Norfolk was not eligible for the 2019 and 2020 PFR schemes because it did not meet the eligibility criteria of 25 flooded properties, Defra told Unearthed.  

In Norfolk, only 44 of the 374 PFR applicants since 2018 have had flood prevention measures installed or had them approved – just 12% of applicants, according to information from Norfolk County Council. A further 67 have had a survey and are waiting for the next stage of the process, and 149 have had an initial survey and nothing else.

A spokesperson for Norfolk County Council explained that the council did not find out that it would be ineligible for the schemes until after households had lodged their applications.

The Shortts are among those whose applications have not progressed beyond a first survey. During Storm Babet in October 2023 their house flooded again, damaging the entire ground floor.

Lynn has multiple sclerosis, which can be affected by stress. “For a month after the [second] flood, I could barely walk,” she said. 

“We have a camera facing the river so we can keep an eye on levels when we’re out,” said Hans. “The stress is always there. We’ve not recovered from the 2023 flooding and we’re braced for 2024. There’s nothing we can do.”

The couple has been living in temporary accommodation since Storm Babet. In July this year, they received a letter encouraging them to apply for a PFR grant. The couple are waiting to hear if their application has been successful. 

‘The £5,000 grant was not enough’

Introduced in 2013, the PFR grant provides up to £5,000 to help pay for flood-proofing for properties that have been flooded. This can include, for example, installing new exterior doors on properties and treating brickwork with a water-resistant chemical solution.

After a major flood, ministers can trigger the grant, which is paid out by central government but administered by local councils. 

The £5,000 available under the scheme has not changed in more than 10 years and many applicants do not receive the full amount. Defra’s evaluation of the 2023 PFR scheme noted that “for most eligible properties, the £5,000 grant was not enough to provide [an] adequate level of flood protection.” 

Defra’s evaluation raises concerns that the grant level affects the level of protection that poorer households can install. “Because of the high cost of many PFR measures… those who are less well-off would only be putting in the bare minimum PFR measures that could be covered by the grant amount,” the evaluation noted.

In some local authorities, householders and businesses have to fund the work themselves before being reimbursed by the grant, preventing many low-income households from being able to take part in the scheme. In other areas, local authorities pay contractors directly.

Before any work can take place, the grant scheme requires a survey, costing £500-850, according to the government’s review of the scheme. Property owners can claim up to £500 of this back through the grant, but this comes out of the overall grant figure, reducing the amount available to pay for flood-proofing measures.

“People are expected to pay out of their own pockets for surveys and property flood resilience.  This can be a huge strain for some people and may limit the number of people who can afford to apply for the grant,” said the National Flood Forum’s Tracey Garrett.

Defra could not provide Unearthed with data on how many households or businesses received PFR grants following 2023’s Storm Babet or 2024’s Storm Henk as this money is yet to be fully distributed. The most recent data available is for grants given out in 2019 and 2020. 

One flood risk manager at a local authority badly hit by flooding in recent years told Unearthed that the PFR grants scheme offered little support and was “throwing flooded residents to the wolves”.

They added: “The poor guidance and lack of funding for surveys only puts councils in a difficult position having to decide on either taking a financial risk to cover costs of those who don’t proceed, or throwing flooded residents to the wolves and expecting them to not only recover from flooding but also find their way through the world of PFR with limited support.”

“The current way the property flood resilience grant is administered can be a challenge for councils because of the short window for setting up the necessary surveys and installing property resilience and issuing grant payments,” said Adam Hug, environment spokesperson for the Local Government Association (LGA). “Councils are also concerned about the capacity of the industry and the availability of qualified surveyors.

“The LGA has called for greater flexibility on the deadline for claims so that more householders have an opportunity to receive support from the fund.”

‘I’m just hoping to god it works’

In February 2020, Storm Ciara brought heavy rains and rising water levels to towns along the River Calder in West Yorkshire. Almost 400 businesses in Hebden Bridge were flooded, along with hundreds of homes in Hebden Bridge, Brighouse and the surrounding area.

But in the aftermath of the storm, just 17% of the businesses that applied to Calderdale metropolitan borough council for a PFR grant had their application approved. Overall, less than half (48%) of all applicants in the area received the grant – 215 homes and 33 businesses. 

Some in Calderdale were surprised to discover they were not eligible for the grant. 

Lisa Thwaites runs the Blue Teapot cafe in Mytholmroyd, Calderdale. Along with many properties across the Calder Valley, her business was flooded on 9 February 2020. Thwaites, who had moved in months before, estimates that she lost stock worth £3,000, while the cafe’s walls and floor were badly damaged. 

She applied for a PFR grant to help make the business more resilient but soon learned she was ineligible as the previous owner had received the grant after flooding in 2015.

Thwaites said she spent £25,000 to put the business back together again and install flood-proofing. “I’ve not put it to the test yet, so I’m just hoping to god it works,” she told Unearthed. “We’ve not flooded to the same extent yet, touch wood. If it happened again, we couldn’t set it up again. We can’t get insurance for the business. We’re just hoping that the new flood defence measures in the town are enough.”

Calderdale Council told Unearthed one reason for the low acceptance rate was that many of the properties flooded in 2020 had already received a PFR grant in 2015. 

Following the 2023 review, Defra has committed to increasing the amount available for a survey, which is needed for anyone applying for the scheme, from £500 to £800. However, the government has not committed to increasing the grant sum beyond the £5,000 that has been on offer for more than 10 years, or to help cash-strapped councils meet the cost of administering it. 

Defra has also rewritten its guidance to local authorities to try and make it clearer, and is reviewing the ways it can support councils that are struggling to administer the grant, Unearthed understands.  

Tracey Garrett from the National Flood Forum said: “With a new government in place, now might be the time to revisit the grant system and look at alternative approaches, such as making the grants available for a wider range of interventions.”

A Defra spokesperson said: “Protecting communities from flooding is an absolute priority for this government, which is why we will launch a Flood Resilience Taskforce to turbocharge the delivery of flood defences and natural flood management.

“The PFR grant helps make homes more resilient in case of future flooding events and grant funding is paid once the works are done, to ensure appropriate use of public money.

“Local authorities are responsible for assessing and approving individual applications for the PFR Grant, which alongside the Flood Recovery Framework is only activated following severe weather events with wide area impacts. With localised flooding incidents, we would expect Local Authorities to have well-established contingency arrangements in place.”