UK study flags flood‑resilience gap

The U.K. government has published a new warning about a problem inside one of its main flood-adaptation tools: there is still not enough real-world evidence showing whether many property flood-resilience measures perform as intended after installation. The Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, or Defra, posted the completed study on May 12 as part of its Flood and Coastal Erosion Risk Management research programme. The work says the evidence base for property flood resilience remains fragmented and identifies seven key gaps that need to be addressed before the measures can be scaled with confidence across buildings and wider systems. ### Which study is driving this warning? Defra said the project, coded FD2751, started on August 1, 2025 and finished on December 19, 2025. The department described it as an effort to consolidate and synthesize existing evidence on property flood resilience, identify gaps in that evidence base and point to the most valuable areas for future research. (gov.uk) The May 12 publication says the report produced 10 suggestions for future research and includes an annex presented as an interactive evidence compendium. Defra has not framed the study as a policy change; it is a research output intended to inform future policy development. ### What measures are under scrutiny? The Environment Agency’s October 2025 FloodReady review described property flood resilience as a mix of resistance measures that try to keep water out and recoverability measures that limit damage if water gets in. (gov.uk) Examples listed by the agency and Defra-backed materials include flood doors and barriers, self-closing air bricks, non-return valves, tiled floors and raised electrics. Water Magazine, citing the newly published research, said the report singled out common components including flood doors, non-return valves, raised services and sealed penetrations as areas where rigorous post-installation performance evidence is still limited. Reuters could not independently review the full underlying report text beyond the government summary available on GOV.UK, but the publication page confirms the broader finding that key evidence gaps remain. (gov.uk) ### Why does the lack of post-installation evidence matter? The Defra summary says the existing evidence base has been fragmented across stakeholders and research disciplines, making it harder to inform effective policy development. That matters because property flood resilience is increasingly being promoted not as a niche retrofit, but as part of England’s wider flood-management approach. (watermagazine.co.uk) Professor Peter Bonfield’s FloodReady review, commissioned by the Environment Agency and published on October 16, 2025, said stronger leadership from government, housebuilders, insurers and flood action groups would be needed to improve uptake. That review also called for more trusted products, competent professionals, better information and more research and innovation to help build what it described as a thriving property flood-resilience market. (gov.uk) ### How big is the flood-risk backdrop in England? The Environment Agency said in October 2025 that around 6.3 million properties in England are at risk of flooding, including about 4.6 million exposed to surface-water flooding. The agency said that figure could rise to around 8 million properties, or one in four homes, by the middle of the century. (gov.uk) Those numbers are part of the reason property-level measures have become more prominent in government-backed reviews. The FloodReady review said such measures can reduce damage and help people return home faster after floods, while the new Defra-backed evidence study says the supporting proof still needs to be strengthened. (gov.uk) ### What happens next? Defra said the project’s final outputs can be downloaded through Defra Science Search, and the GOV.UK publication page points users to the report and annexed evidence compendium. The study’s 10 proposed research priorities are the clearest next step identified in the government summary released on May 12. (gov.uk) The next policy track is already in motion through the Environment Agency’s FloodReady programme, which was published in October 2025 and set out a 10-year action plan involving Defra, the Environment Agency, Flood Re and other participants. That plan names research and innovation, product assurance and better information as part of the next phase for property flood resilience in England. (gov.uk 1) (gov.uk 2)