There's a perceived 'housing crisis' in England. The new UK government's solution is for an extra 1.5 million houses built over the next 5 years. Whether there's a benefit or not depends on the type of house and where it's built. Richard Dawson (Newcastle University) points out that, in 2020-2021 and 2021-2022, circa 7% of new properties were built in zone 3. Zone 3 is applied to locations with at least a 1% chance of annual flooding from a river and/or a 0.5% risk of flooding by the sea. This zone has the highest flooding risk and building in these areas is supposed to be discouraged. Unless government intervenes, more than 100,000 of the new homes target, could be in zone 3. This would means these flood-prone properties would be virtually uninsurable (https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2025/feb/08/more-than-100000-homes-in-england-could-be-built-in-highest-risk-flood-zones). The problem, however, doesn't stop there. Climate change is increasing the probability of extreme weather events. Zone 3 might well expand. It's also necessary to put changes into planning to reduce flooding risk. House builders should be required to fit new properties, so they minimise their 'greenhouse gas' emissions. This will inevitably make the new houses more expensive but retro-fitting is even more costly. Locations, where new homes are built, will also need be provided with improved drainage (as may well be true of established areas). The Water Companies must also be required to improve their management of flood waters. Folk, especially in flood-prone areas, should also be prevented from turning their gardens into hard standing for motor vehicles. This markedly reduces drainage. In some adjoining riverine areas, beavers might even be put to work to make their habitats hold more of the increased precipitation.
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