Westminster Labour is calling for urgent Government action to ensure that all residents can obtain insurance against flooding. Following the devasting local floods of 12th July 2021, many residents are finding insurers refusing to cover their properties against flood damage or only doing with prohibitive increase in premiums. More than 300 properties in Westminster were badly damaged by the floods, the vast majority of them being the basement apartments in houses converted into multiple flats.

There is a national scheme called Flood Re that was set up to make sure that flood insurance was available throughout the UK, even in locations that had previously suffered serious flooding. However, this scheme expressly excludes houses divided into more than three flats, meaning that many basement flats in Westminster cannot benefit from Flood Re. Worse, whole houses converted into multiple flats are finding insurance unobtainable because of flood damage to one flat in the basement. This is quickly leading to problems with mortgage providers.

We are calling on Rebecca Pow MP, Parliamentary Under Secretary of State for the Environment to extend the Flood Re scheme to include all leasehold flats, no matter the size of the building in which they are situated. This will ensure every household can be properly insured against future flooding.

Councillor Geoff Barraclough, Labour Councillor for Maida Vale, said:

“It’s crazy that so many households in Westminster are excluded from the national Flood Re scheme, especially as many residents have told me that they have been refused cover by every insurance company they have tried. Others have found cover still available but at a prohibitive cost – the premium for one building of four flats in Maida Vale has risen from £1,800 to £8,200. We need Government action to make sure that every leasehold flat is covered by Flood Re.“