Hundreds of thousands of homes and businesses to benefit from largest flood defence investment programme in history
Almost 拢8 billion to be invested in flood defences over the next decade
A photo of flood defences by the sea
The largest flooding programme in history will be announced by government this week, with a record 拢7.9 billion committed over ten years to protect hundreds of thousands of homes, small businesses, and vital infrastructure from the growing threat of flooding.聽
From high-performance flood barriers to nature-based solutions like wetland restoration, the programme will deliver long-term protection for communities and strengthen local economies 바카라 사이트� delivering on the government바카라 사이트檚 Plan for Change.
This comes as the government gears up to announcing its landmark Infrastructure Strategy 바카라 사이트� a targeted, long-term plan to invest in Britain. The Strategy focuses on ensuring every penny of taxpayer money spent delivers real returns for working people, through stronger local economies, better jobs and more resilient communities.
The new flooding programme is proof of that strategy in action. Every 拢1 spent on flood defences expected to prevent around 拢8 in economic damage, meaning significant savings for public services, such as the NHS and schools.
The major funding pledge will bolster the government바카라 사이트檚 mission of accelerating economic growth, by reducing the time and costs businesses face when recovering from floods and empowering them to invest in local areas.
Environment Secretary Steve Reed said:
Protecting citizens is the first duty of any 바카라 사이트. Yet we inherited crumbling flood defences in their worst condition on record 바카라 사이트� exposing thousands of homes.
Under the Plan for Change, this 바카라 사이트 is taking urgent action with the largest flooding programme in our country바카라 사이트檚 history.
We will leave no stone unturned to protect our citizens.
Philip Duffy, chief executive at the Environment Agency, said:
As our changing climate continues to bring more extreme weather to the nation, it바카라 사이트檚 never been more vital to invest in new flood defences and repair our existing assets.
This long-term investment will be welcome news for businesses and homeowners, who have too often faced the destructive nature of flooding. Our priority will continue to be working with the government and local authorities to ensure as many properties are protected as possible.
The investment will also continue the government바카라 사이트檚 plans to protect cities and towns from the devastating impacts of floodings, including from Oxford to Portsmouth and up to Derby and Blackpool.
In the Spending Review, the 바카라 사이트 also confirmed that 拢4.2 billion will be spent on the flooding programme over the next three years (2026/7 to 2028/9), which will be focused on both capital and resources such as building new defences and repairing and maintaining existing ones.
Alongside this, the 바카라 사이트 launched a consultation on new proposals to introduce a simplified, more transparent approach to bid for government funding for flood defences. This will benefit councils that have less resource to commit to the application process and will ensure money is distributed more effectively across the country.
Additional information
- In the Spending Review, the 바카라 사이트 set out the breakdown of funding for flood defences over the next three years as part of the Spending Review. The 拢4.2 billion that will be spent over this SR period (2026/27- 2028/29) includes capital and resource spending, whereas the 拢7.9 billion ten-year settlement is solely capital spending 바카라 사이트� meaning the total spent on boosting resilience will be higher, subject to future Spending Reviews.
- The 拢7.9 billion does not include spending on routine maintenance and incident management activities.
- This 바카라 사이트 inherited flood assets in their poorest condition on record following years of under investment and has committed a record two-year investment of 拢2.65 billion with 52,000 properties set to benefit from new defences by March 2026.
- This 拢2.65 billion funding for 2024/25 to 2025/26 is not included in the long-term flooding programme 바카라 사이트� it is additional: Record investment to protect thousands of UK homes and businesses - 바카라 사이트
- Assessments show that for every 拢1 invested in flood defences, around 拢8 of damages are prevented聽바카라 사이트� of which roughly 拢3 are direct savings to the Exchequer because around 36% of the damages caused by floods are to publicly owned infrastructure like roads, railways, schools, and hospitals.
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