Committee publication · Correspondence · 19 March 2026
Letter to the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government relating to flooding and the National Planning Policy Framework, 19 March
From: Environmental Audit Committee
Inquiry: Flood resilience in England
Summary
The Environmental Audit Committee writes to the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government to highlight concerns about flood risk and planning policy raised by the Town and Country Planning Association. The Committee urges consideration of these concerns in forthcoming revisions to the National Planning Policy Framework, emphasising that planning policy must ensure new development does not increase flood risks and remains resilient to climate change impacts.
Key findings
- The Town and Country Planning Association has raised concerns about flood risk and planning policy that the Committee considers highly relevant to government's ongoing planning policy review.
- The Committee's recent inquiries on flood resilience and housing growth found that the planning system must properly reflect both current and future flood risk.
- New development must be supported by appropriate flood mitigation and drainage infrastructure, with a precautionary approach taken to development in flood-risk areas as climate change increases extreme weather frequency.
- Flooding causes significant financial costs and community disruption; building public confidence in development locations is critical to deliver government housing ambitions.
- Local opposition to perceived flood-risk-increasing development can undermine housing delivery; a clear strategic approach to managing flood risk in planning is essential.
Tone
ProceduralTopics
Key actors
Steve Reed MP (Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government), Toby Perkins MP (Chair, Environmental Audit Committee), Environmental Audit Committee, Town and Country Planning Association
Notable line
“It is therefore vital that national planning policy helps ensure that new development does not increase flood risks …”
Key Quotes
“Flooding causes significant financial costs as well as deep disruption and distress for affected communities. It is therefore vital that national planning policy helps ensure that new development does not increase flood risks, and is designed to remain resilient as that risk grows in the face of future climate change.”
“A clear and strategic approach to managing flood risk within the planning system is therefore essential to give confidence that new homes will be built in the right places and will not exacerbate flooding.”
Source · parliament.uk record ↗