Aviva warns new UK homes in flood zones could become uninsurable

Homes currently under construction in areas at risk of flooding could become uninsurable in the future, the head of insurance giant Aviva has warned.

Amanda Brann said the risk of flooding was “certainly increasing”. However, based on current building patterns, about 115,000 new homes could be built in UK flood zones over the next 10 years.

“That doesn’t seem to make sense to me. We need to think about where those homes are being built,” Brann told the BBC.

Millions of UK properties are at risk of flooding

About 6.3 million homes and businesses in the UK are at risk of flooding, according to the Environment Agency.

Research from Aviva shows that one in nine homes built between 2022 and 2024 is at moderate to high risk of flooding.

Speaking on the BBC’s Big Boss interview podcast, Brann said the UK was “certainly” building homes that may become uninsurable at some point in the future.

“We know where these flooded areas are, so think carefully about the homes you’re building,” she said.

New homes face increasing flood risk by 2050

Brann said construction next to flood zones also required a different approach.

“You can take all sorts of different steps to make your land more or less vulnerable to flooding,” she said.

Aviva research found that nearly a third of new homes built in 2024 could be at risk of some type of flooding by 2050. One in seven could face moderate to high flood risk as extreme weather events become more severe.

Climate change could bring wetter UK winters

Earlier this year, the Met Office estimated that current levels of global warming could lead to record-wet winters like the one experienced in the UK in 2023–2024 occurring more often. Such winters could range from once every 80 years to once every 20 years.

The BBC has contacted the government for comment.