Flood Recovery Grants

The purpose of the Property Flood Resilience (PFR) repair grant scheme is to assist home and business owners to improve the flood resilience of their individual properties. It is not simply compensation for having been flooded. The outcome from this funding should be that if flooding were to reoccur, damage levels would be considerably lower, and property owners and businesses could return to their properties much more quickly.

Up to £5,000 (including VAT) is available per property to refund homes and businesses for works undertaken to make them more flood resilient or recover more quickly from future flooding.

• the grant is available to improve the flood resilience of a property;
• it is not compensation for flood damage, nor is it to be used for speculative work.
• it is for improvements to a property to reduce future flood damage.
• Grants will only be made when works have been fully completed that are proven, by an independent surveyor, to improve the flood resilience of a property.
• Evidence of the independent survey and completion of works will be required before considering payment of this grant. However, anyone who plans to undertake resilience work should submit an application now to register an expression of interest for this funding. 

Eligibility

Your property must have been internally damaged by flooding between Tuesday 2 January 2024 and Friday 12 January 2024 as a result of Storm Henk.

Flooding must have been caused by heavy rainfall, a river or watercourse overflowing, or by groundwater.

Please be aware that as part of the Expression of Interest stage, you will need to provide evidence that your property flooded, for example photographs or insurance claims.

Only the property owner can apply for the grant.

The grant is only available to:

• residential properties - where habitable internal areas of the property have been damaged by flooding during this event (this includes static caravans where this is the primary residence)
• businesses/social enterprises and charities - where internal areas of the premise which are critical to the day to day operations (not storage sheds or warehouses) have been damaged by flooding during this event
• holiday lets that are operated as a business and where non-domestic rates are paid
• a bed and breakfast property where:
  • i. the owner lives on site and said property is their principal residence, and
  • ii. they may pay both domestic and non-domestic rates

The grant is only available to people where the habitable living or business area of the properties have been damaged by entry of flood water, necessitating drying out and/or repairs to the fabric of the building.

Properties not eligible include:

• properties that flooded from sewerage system (unless wholly or partly caused by an increase in the volume of rainwater entering or otherwise affecting the system or from a burst water main
• garages, outhouses, storage areas, basements and cellars not used as part of the habitable or business area of the property
• second or empty homes
• properties should be covered by insurance or product guarantees (for example: repair of previously installed resilience measures or the costs of drying out)

Houses of Multiple Occupancy (HMOs) should be considered 'one front door' except where they are separate for council tax purposes, in which case, each individual council taxpayer will be eligible. Blocks of flats should be treated under the same principles as HMOs.

Only properties, or parts thereof, directly impacted by the flood within multi-occupancy buildings are eligible for the scheme.

Premises occupied through leasehold are eligible. The freehold owner of a flooded building is eligible for a grant from the scheme to contribute towards the cost of making recoverable repairs to the shared spaces of a building impacted by flooding, especially where this complements work being carried out to individual properties through the scheme.

Properties that have received the following previous grants are not eligible:

• previous PFR Grants from the schemes that were put in place in 2013/14, 2015/16, November 2019, February 2020.

However, where a survey suggests that extra resilience measures should be installed over and above what was previously installed under a PFR Grant Scheme and these are not insurable, the Local Authority can consider eligibility on a case-by-case basis.

The survey in such cases would be carried out at the risk of the occupier by a suitably qualified professional and the cost redeemed as part of the Grant if the application is successful. Decision is at Local Authority discretion and should be in exceptional cases only and represent good value for money.

Properties that have previously had resistance measures installed (through a Flood Defence Grant in Aid (GiA) scheme, for example) and which have since experienced internal flooding, are eligible for this scheme. However, this grant should only be used for new recoverable adaptations (such as the additional cost of replacing drywall with resilient alternatives) that were not eligible for the GiA scheme. It cannot be used to replace any damaged measures installed under the terms of the GiA scheme.

Uninsured domestic properties and businesses are also eligible.

Many insurers are now offering 'Build Back Better' (BBB) payments. This means that households can claim an additional amount as part of their flood claim, which will fund measures which will improve the flood resilience of the property.

This can include carrying out surveys to understand the flood risk and potential mitigation, the addition of flood resistance measures such as flood doors, and flood resilience measures such as the replacement of damaged parts of the home with more flood resilient materials such as hard floors.

People who have BBB as part of their insurance claim can apply to have a PFR grant but it is recommended that customers engage with their insurers in the first instance where they are eligible for BBB.

Applications

The Application deadline for the PFR Grants following Storm Henk in January are set out below:

Applications to be submitted by 31st January 2025.

Works to be completed by 31st May 2025.

In order to support your applications, you should provide evidence to show that your property was flooded. As part of this form, you will need to supply photos showing:

• Pictures of the flood damage 
• Pictures or video showing water in the home
• Surveys undertaken
• Insurance claim details

There is no cost to apply for this grant.

Upon completion of the application, you will be provided with a confirmation email and application reference number. Please note, this is a separate form and process as flood reporting at the time. If you have reported the flooding to your property to the council already you will still need to apply through this form to access the grant.

The Council will then contact you to either approve or refuse your application and in some circumstances may ask for further information to assess your application.

If you commission a survey or installation work before your application is approved, this is done at your own risk.

If your application is approved, you will be notified by email and provided with a grant agreement.

If your application is refused, you will be notified by email with the reasons for refusal.

Surveys

In order to progress with the grant, a survey is required. The survey must be carried out by an independent qualified surveyor who works for a company independent from the company installing the measures. The surveyor should also risk assess and recommend potential measures for the property owner to select from.

The grant scheme covers the cost of surveys up to the cost of £800 from the total £5000 available. Any additional cost must be covered by the property owners.

Property owners must arrange their own surveys and are responsible for ensuring the surveyors used are suitably qualified. The Council cannot endorse or recommend any companies. You will be able find Surveyors online on the following locations:

• RICS regulated firms in the Borough that list “flooding” or other related matters and services and provide residential or commercial services depending on your property type. You can use their RICS Find a Surveyor Tool
• BluePages is an independent directory developed by the National Flood Forum. This lists several companies who specialise in PFR measures and surveys across the country. 
   

Survey costs cannot be reimbursed until measures are installed. This is because survey costs will not be reimbursed if no PFR measures are installed, even if no measures are able to be suggested by surveyors. In these cases, property owners will have to cover the cost of the surveys.

When negotiating costs, check whether a post-installation survey is included – see step 5.

Please also note the following:- 

• Your insurer may have already arranged for a property survey.
• Where a number of properties have flooded, communities should consider selecting the same surveyor, as this may help to keep costs down.
• Due to the amount of flooding across the Midlands, demand for surveys is likely to be high. Make sure you discuss lead times when arranging a surveyor.
• Ask your surveyor to include an estimation of the cost of measures they recommend.
• Discuss your budget with your surveyor. It may be that resistance measures are likely to be too expensive, so instead they could focus on recommending recoverability measures.
• Check the survey will be compliant with the code of practice for property flood resilience and that the surveyor has experience of assessing flooded properties and recommending property flood resilience measures. The surveyor should always visit your property.
• Be ready to provide as much information as possible on how the property flooded.
• Keep your invoice and proof of payment ready for your claim.

Installation and Construction of Measures

The remainder of the £5000 (VAT inclusive) available in the grant (minus the survey costs) is available for the installation of measures to your property. Any additional costs will need to be covered by the property owner.

Before measures are installed, the Council must approve you contractor and the works proposed to be covered by the grant, including costs.

For resistance measures such as flood doors and barriers (measures which will reduce the likelihood of water entering the habitable parts of the property), DEFRA require that your contractor must have completed the CIWM PFR Foundation Training.

For resilience measures, such as the moving of plug sockets or installation of resilient flooring, this training is not required.

Please email these along with your property survey to flooding.enquiries@rbwm.gov.uk for approval. At this stage, you must also have signed and returned your grant agreement.

Please also contact us if there are any significant changes to the proposals during installation as progressing changes without discussing these with us may impact your eligibility for the grant.

Please also note the following:

• Where a few properties have flooded, communities may wish to consider selecting the same installer, as this may reduce costs.
• Take photos before and after installation.
• Check the design and installation will be compliant with the code of practice for property flood resilience.
• Check which standards the products comply with (e.g. kitemark), and warranties.
• Keep your invoice and proof of payment ready for your claim
   

Claim including post installation check and payment

Upon completion of works, a claim can be made foe the grant. The following information must be provided:

• Evidence of agreed measures having been installed. We recommend that the surveyors who did your initial survey undertake a post completion survey, but this is not compulsory. Please note that the surveys and confirmation of works are not quality assurance of the works. They are simply checks that the works have been completed and the Council takes no liability for work installed incorrectly.
• Invoices for both surveys and installation works
• Bank details to allow payment.
   

No payments can be made for incomplete measures. The Council will inform you if your claim has been successful or if further information is required. There may need to be a visit to your property.

Management and Maintenance

Property owners are responsible for the ongoing management and maintenance of measures. No further funds will be provided for measures to be maintained.
 

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