Flood Re was founded in 2016 by the UK’s leading insurance companies to provide cover for properties at the highest risk of flooding. In the financial year 2024-2025, 346,200 homes were placed in the reinsurance scheme, a 20% increase on the previous year. 

However, Flood Re is set to end in 2039, while an estimated 6.3 million homes are at risk of flooding, a figure set to rise to 8 million by 2050.

Flood Re’s suggestion to tackle the gaping problem is the creation of flood performance certificates, similar to energy performance certificates. FPCs will assess a property’s flood risk and the measures the property owner has taken to alleviate it.

The first pilots of FPCs will be carried out by the end of 2026, with the aim of integrating FPCs with discounted insurance premiums by 2028. 

However, while this is a step in the right direction, the real estate sector needs to do more to incorporate future flood risk into developments now, said GIA's newly appointed director and head of flood risk management, Robert Bramwell-Carr.

“Flood Re’s intention is that an FPC will be the mechanism by which the industry gets up to speed,” he said. “However, while they could help to close the gap, how they are rolled out is still being worked through. We need to use other tools to better protect properties now.”

Bisnow spoke to Bramwell-Carr about how flood risk is becoming a greater concern for the built environment that needs to be addressed before the cost grows.

Bisnow: What impact is flood risk, or future flood risk, having on the built environment?

Bramwell-Carr: It is already affecting values and insurance because we increasingly understand the growing impact of climate change. 

A challenge is that a lot of insurers and financial institutions have their own modelling products for analysing surface water and flood risk. Also, a lot of modelling is carried out on a national scale, so when you get down to a property level, it might not be accurate. 

I was talking to a mortgage broker recently who had their first mortgage declined last week due to future climate change on a property. Flood modelling techniques have advanced considerably in the last few years, but a lot of homeowners aren’t aware.

With Flood Re scheduled to end in 2039, property owners need a way to understand their flood risk and demonstrate the measures taken to reduce it. If not, insurance premiums could rise significantly, and people may find it harder to insure, mortgage or sell their homes. 

The Bank of England staff research found that the presence of Flood Re has helped mitigate the negative effect of flooding on affected property values. When the scheme ends in 2039, those values could adjust downwards if the industry has not adequately adapted to risk-based insurance pricing. 

Bisnow: What impact could FPCs have on the industry?

Bramwell-Carr: FPCs could help the industry better understand and respond to property-level flood risk. But further work is needed before they can be rolled out widely. It is not yet clear whether they will be mandatory, so the industry needs greater clarity on how, and under what circumstances, they are expected to be used.

So do homeowners: How will they access advice on what to do about their FPC? How will they manage any potential effect on their property’s value? Will an FPC affect their ability to sell or remortgage? 

Unless a consistent approach is taken, the system might not adequately reward owners who have taken responsible action. 

It could be that the onus falls on owners to pay for additional surveys and professional advice to understand and evidence their risk and resilience. Even without a formal mandate, the way insurers and lenders choose to use FPCs could strongly influence their uptake. 

With GIA’s new flood risk and drainage service line, we’re looking at how we can support people with FPCs, whether that’s individual homeowners, those with larger portfolios, or even the financial industry in terms of how they support their customers. 

Bisnow: What has changed in the 20 years you’ve worked in flood risk?

Bramwell-Carr: The main change is in how we understand flood risk as technology has evolved.

In the last 10 years, we’ve seen huge advances in how we map surface water flood risk, which is the biggest level of flood risk in the UK. An example of how our thinking has changed is in alleviation methods. 

We used to build walls higher to counter potential floods, but our understanding of climate change means we know we have to prepare for far more water. Rather than build a river wall, we might consider flood risk management in the upper catchments to slow the flow of water.

This could create further benefits in the local area and even enhance the natural environment. 

People are starting to wise up to the fact we can’t protect everyone from flooding. We need to deal with the fact that we’ve got this huge housing stock that is at risk, and we need to do better as a country in supporting owners. 

Bisnow: How can technology help?

Bramwell-Carr: Technology can help people understand challenges and what they need to do more quickly. GIA has a huge portfolio of digital tools to model buildings and what impacts them, and we’re looking at how we can integrate flood risk thinking, which could be around automation. 

Another application could be to support the AMP 8 funding cycle, the £104B investment programme that runs from 2025 to 2030, which includes almost £12B to reduce sewage spills. While the funding exists, the industry is heavily constrained by limited specialist capacity.

We want to use more digital tools to help alleviate this challenge, allowing specialists to work more quickly and focus their expertise where it adds the most value.

Bisnow: How do you hope the built environment will evolve its thinking around flood risk in the next few years?

Bramwell-Carr: I hope that flood risk and drainage are taken more seriously early on in development planning. At the moment, it can become commoditised: a tick-box report for planning.

I recently worked on a development where flood risk was identified late, requiring design changes to keep the scheme safe and compliant. Earlier involvement allows us to shape the master plan around blue-green infrastructure, integrating drainage rather than relying on tanks and pipes. This can reduce costs and enable more innovative solutions.

This article was produced in collaboration between GIA and Studio B. Bisnow news staff was not involved in the production of this content.

Studio B is Bisnow’s in-house content and design studio. To learn more about how Studio B can help your team, reach out to studio@bisnow.com.