Project background

Flooding causes substantial social and economic losses and poses a significant threat to the current and future sustainability of communities and livelihoods. Currently, one in six UK residential and commercial properties (c. £5.2 million properties) are estimated to be at risk of flooding from river, coastal and/or surface water (Environment Agency, 2020). These risks are forecast to increase because of climate and socio-demographic changes and improving societal resilience to flood risk is critical to reducing impacts. It is well recognised that social, economic and environmentally sustainable flood risk management and requires the adoption of a portfolio of measures including large-scale hard structural barriers as well as non-structural behavioural and local options to best manage the impacts of flooding. Aligned to this is the greater need to encourage individual property owners to take action to reduce risk which is the focus of this research.

Through working in collaboration with Flood Re and the internationally renowned Flood Hazard Research Centre at Middlesex University, this studentship provides an exciting opportunity to address the critical issue of managing flood risk and its societal impacts. Flood Re is a not-for profit organisation financed and run by UK insurers whose aim is to maintain the availability and affordability of flood insurance. Part of this involves encouraging property owners to understand and reduce their flood risk recognising that insurance has the potential to encourage action through the uptake of Property-level Flood Resilience (PFR). PFR includes measures which homeowners can adopt at the property level to reduce risk and the impacts of flooding, but critically they can also empower them to make individual decisions. Flood Re, in collaboration with, government and other organisations, has undertaken a range of actions to promote the uptake of resilience measures. This included in 2022 Flood Re launching BuildBackBetter which facilitates resilient reinstatement of properties following flooding. The scheme offers eligible policyholders up to an additional £10,000 to implement PFR as part of their insurance claim. However, whilst the potential for PFR to positively reduce flood risk nationally is high, uptake remains low.

 Many barriers to implementing risk reduction measures at the household level exist but include homeowners’ lack of knowledge of the risk and which measures to implement and how any measures will reduce the impacts of flooding. Coupled with this is the absence of a mechanism which allows any PFR measures implemented to be identified by insurers and/or mortgage lenders and therefore allow the risk reduction (and any associated premium reduction) to be recognised. Indeed, The Property Flood Resilience Action Plan delivered to government Bonfield (2016; 5) recognised the gap and highlighted the need to understand how “householders and insurers can be supported and incentivised…to manage the risk of flooding and reduce the cost of insurance claims through resilience.” 

To fill this gap Flood Re (in collaboration with FHRC) are in the process of developing a Flood Performance Certificate, akin to an Energy Performance Certificate, which provides household level detail about the risk of flooding and any PFR actions a homeowner has, or can take, to reduce potential impacts. The connection between this proposed certificate on household-level behaviour is the key focus of the research project.  Importantly, this research will inform the development and implementation of the certificate and contribute to Flood Re’s efforts to improving societal flood resilience. This research complements other work already being undertaken in parallel research strands which are examining related policy and implementation questions (e.g. Who produces and owns a Flood Performance Certificate? How do Flood Performance Certificate link to current building standards? How frequently should they be produced? etc.). You will therefore work alongside, and have access to, industry and government experts and work on issues with local and national significance. Under the guidance of your supervisors at Middlesex University and Flood Re you will build upon the existing research already underway/planned and focus on the critical user question concerning how Flood Performance Certificates are understood by homeowners and how they might motivate resilient behaviour and increase the uptake of resilience. The outcomes will have direct impact as they can be fully integrated into Flood Re’s workstreams moving towards the implementation of Flood Performance Certification.