Potamos Consulting

Know Your Flood Risk

Whether you’re looking to purchase a property or plot of land, obtain planning permission for a new development or extension, assess your insurance requirements, or simply decide whether you need to take any extra precautions against flooding, it is important to know your flood risk.

There are 2.4 million properties in the UK at risk of flooding from rivers or the sea (that’s more than 5 million people). A further 2.8 million UK properties are at risk of flooding from surface water runoff. In England, the South East region has the largest number of properties at significant risk from rivers and the sea (Environment Agency, 2009).

The Environment Agency offers free flood warnings to large parts of the UK, however 70% of properties within eligible areas have not yet signed up for the service, and over one million people living in areas vulnerable to flooding are unaware that their property is even one of those at risk (Environment Agency, 2009).

Potamos Consulting Ltd is a member of the Know Your Flood Risk campaign (opens in a new window), a campaign created to help address these statistics, raise awareness of the issues of flooding and provide practical guidance and support to help protect homeowners and property professionals against the risk of flooding. As a collective Know Your Flood Risk and its members, organisations from the private, public and charity sectors, aim to raise the profile of flooding and ensure people are aware of the risks they face and how to mitigate them. Know Your Flood Risk is supported by the National Flood Forum (opens in a new window), the flood charity that provide support and advice to communities and individuals that have been flooded or are at risk of flooding.