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Can I Raise My Land to Get Out of the Floodplain?

Raising the ground is one of the first ideas people reach for when a site turns out to sit in Flood Zone 2 or 3. The answer is almost always no. You cannot raise land out of the floodplain in…
Posted on 22nd September, 2026
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The MAGIC Map Explained: What It Shows, and What It Doesn’t

The MAGIC map is Defra's free public map of environmental and countryside data for Great Britain, holding more than 400 layers from around 30 organisations in a single browser-based viewer. For anyone appraising a development site it answers one narrow…
Posted on 17th September, 2026
, in SuDS 
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Groundwater Source Protection Zones: What They Are and What They Change

A groundwater source protection zone is an area the Environment Agency draws around a groundwater drinking water abstraction to show how quickly a pollutant released at that point would reach the supply. There are over 2,600 of them in England.…
Posted on 16th September, 2026
, in SuDS 
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Land drains on a development site: what to do when you find them

Land drains on a development site are not an obstruction to be cleared. They are somebody's drainage, they may carry water from well beyond the red line, and cutting one without a plan is the shortest route to a neighbour's…
Posted on 15th September, 2026
, in SuDS 
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Whatever happened to Sewers for Adoption?

Sewers for Adoption was the design guide that told developers how to build a sewer a water company would take over. It stopped doing that job in England on 1 April 2020, when Ofwat's Code for Adoption Agreements came into…
Posted on 10th September, 2026
, in SuDS 
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Why is dam breach data a secret?

Ask a navigation authority or a reservoir undertaker for the breach modelling data behind a raised embankment above your site, and there is a fair chance you will be told that the information is held and will not be released.…
Posted on 9th September, 2026
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Do You Need Planning Permission for a Swimming Pool?

Most people asking whether you need planning permission for a swimming pool get the same answer everywhere they look: probably not. That answer is usually right, and it is also the less useful half of the question. Permission settles whether…
Posted on 7th September, 2026
, in NPPF 
, in SuDS 
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Dry Island Sites: The Flood Risk Problem Outside the Flood Zones

A dry island is a piece of land that does not flood, surrounded by land that does. The site stays dry; everything around it goes under. Dry island flood risk is what follows from that position: occupants cannot leave, emergency…
Posted on 4th September, 2026
, in NPPF 
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BESS Flood Risk Assessment: What a Battery Storage Application Needs

A BESS flood risk assessment is the site-specific report a battery energy storage scheme submits with its planning application, and since 17 August 2026 it has been a harder document to write. Annex F of the August 2026 National Planning…
Posted on 3rd September, 2026
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Dry Weather Flow: What a Dry Day Spill Tells You About Sewer Capacity

Dry weather flow is the average daily volume reaching a wastewater treatment works when it has not been raining, and it is the number every foul drainage decision in a constrained catchment eventually rests on. When a storm overflow discharges…
Posted on 2nd September, 2026
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Flood Risk and Drainage for Data Centre Planning Applications

A data centre flood risk assessment has to clear a higher bar than the industrial-shed template most schemes were still using a year ago. Since 17 August 2026 the National Planning Policy Framework has listed data centres as essential infrastructure.…
Posted on 28th August, 2026
, in NPPF 
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Equestrian flood risk and drainage: the planning rules for stables, field shelters and ménages

Planning permission for stables is needed far more often than owners expect, and the flood risk and drainage requirements that come with it are the part almost nobody writes about. Horses are kept on low-lying grazing land: the cheap, wet,…
Posted on 27th August, 2026
, in NPPF 
, in SuDS 
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Flood Risk Assessments for Electrical Substations

A substation flood risk assessment establishes whether a proposed electrical substation will be reached by flooding during its working life, and sets the levels and the protection the equipment needs to survive it. It can be required for planning. It…
Posted on 27th August, 2026
, in NPPF 
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Basement and Cellar Conversions in a Flood Zone: The 2026 Planning Rules

A basement conversion flood risk assessment has to answer a question no other householder application faces: what happens to the people in the lowest room when the water arrives. Below-ground space is the only part of a home where the…
Posted on 26th August, 2026
, in NPPF 
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Can You Knock Down and Rebuild a House in a Flood Zone?

Yes, and it happens all the time. The obstacle when you rebuild a house in a flood zone is not the water; it is a reclassification. Planning does not treat a demolition and rebuild as a larger extension. It treats…
Posted on 25th August, 2026
, in NPPF 
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First flush explained: why the first few millimetres of rain matter most in SuDS

Every storm carries its dirtiest water at the start. In the first minutes of rain, run-off sluices weeks of built-up grime (oil, tyre and brake dust, sediment, metals and nutrients) off roofs, roads and car parks and into the nearest…
Posted on 21st August, 2026
, in NPPF 
, in SuDS 
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The New National SuDS Strategy Templates: What They Are and How to Use Them

In August 2026 the Environment Agency published two national SuDS strategy templates: one for major development and one for non-major development. Each is a free Word form that an applicant fills in and submits with a planning application, so that…
Posted on 20th August, 2026
, in SuDS 
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Flood Risk and Drainage for Gypsy and Traveller Sites: The Planning Requirements

A Gypsy and Traveller site flood risk assessment is needed for almost every pitch scheme on land that carries any flood risk, and these applications are judged against a tougher standard than ordinary housing. The reason is the caravan. Under…
Posted on 19th August, 2026
, in NPPF 
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Section 104 and Section 102 Agreements: A Developer’s Guide to Sewer Adoption

A Section 104 agreement is the contract that gets a development's new sewers taken over and maintained by the water company; a Section 102 agreement does the same job for sewers that are already in the ground. Both sit in…
Posted on 18th August, 2026
, in SuDS 
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What is a Section 106 sewer connection? The right to connect, explained

A section 106 sewer connection is the statutory right, under section 106 of the Water Industry Act 1991, for the owner or occupier of a property to connect its drains to the public sewer. It is a right, not a…
Posted on 18th August, 2026
, in SuDS 
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The Surface Water Sequential Test Exemption: Evidencing It Under Policy F5

The surface water sequential test exemption is the biggest change Policy F5 makes to flood risk decision-making in the August 2026 NPPF. It lets a site at risk of surface water flooding only avoid the sequential test — but only…
Posted on 18th August, 2026
, in NPPF 
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NPPF August 2026 Changes: Flood Risk and Drainage Implications for Planning

The NPPF 2026 changes are now live. Government published the new National Planning Policy Framework on 17 August 2026, and it applies to planning decisions in England from the day of publication. For flood risk and drainage this is no…
Posted on 17th August, 2026
, in NPPF 
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Campsite and glamping flood risk and drainage: the planning requirements in England

A campsite flood risk assessment is required for any camping, glamping or holiday caravan proposal in Flood Zone 2 or 3, and for sites in Flood Zone 1 that are a hectare or more, sit in a critical drainage area,…
Posted on 17th August, 2026
, in NPPF 
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Can I Build a House Extension in a Flood Zone?

Yes, and most of them get built. Wanting a house extension in a flood zone is not the problem; the sticking point is the evidence the council asks for before it will grant permission. Sitting in Flood Zone 2 or…
Posted on 13th August, 2026
, in NPPF 
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“Granny Annexe” Flood Risk Assessment: The Planning Rules

A granny annexe is self-contained accommodation built for a relative, usually an elderly parent, either added to a house or converted from a garage, stable or outbuilding. “Granny annexe” is the everyday name; in planning language it is ancillary or…
Posted on 7th August, 2026
, in NPPF 
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Do you need a flood risk assessment for a change of use to an HMO?

Usually, yes. A flood risk assessment is required for a change of use to an HMO wherever the site sits in Flood Zone 2 or 3, and in a growing number of Flood Zone 1 cases too. An HMO is…
Posted on 7th August, 2026
, in NPPF 
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Flood risk and drainage in the planning process: where they fit at every stage

If you are applying for planning permission for the first time, the part most likely to catch you out is not the design or the neighbours. It is flood risk and drainage in the planning process. Flooding and surface water…
Posted on 6th August, 2026
, in NPPF 
, in SuDS 
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What is a consultee in a planning application? Statutory consultees explained

A consultee is a body or person the local planning authority asks for a view on your planning application before it makes a decision. Some are named in law and must be consulted on particular kinds of development. These are…
Posted on 5th August, 2026
, in NPPF 
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Flood Risk Assessment and Drainage Strategy: Do You Need Both?

Most applications that need one of these documents need the other too. A flood risk assessment and a drainage strategy answer different questions: the first asks whether the site floods and whether your development makes flooding worse somewhere else, the…
Posted on 4th August, 2026
, in NPPF 
, in SuDS 
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Do you need a flood risk assessment for an office-to-residential conversion (Class MA)?

Often, yes: a flood risk assessment for an office-to-residential conversion is required whenever the building sits in Flood Zone 2 or 3, because Class MA permitted development still has to clear prior approval, and flooding is one of the matters…
Posted on 3rd August, 2026
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Do you need a flood risk assessment for a barn conversion (Class Q)?

Yes — if the barn sits in a flood risk area, a flood risk assessment for a barn conversion is almost always required, even though the work is permitted development. Class Q lets you turn an agricultural building into a…
Posted on 3rd August, 2026
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The Flood Risk TAN15 Doesn’t Map: Quarries and Mine Tips in Wales

On the afternoon of Thursday 30th July 2026, the village of Gwaelod-y-Garth, below Garth Hill on the north-western edge of Cardiff, flooded within about a minute of a blast at the quarry above it. Four days on, the operator has…
Posted on 31st July, 2026
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Flood Risk and Drainage for EV Charging Infrastructure: What Developers Need to Know

There were 119,080 public chargers on the UK network on 1 April 2026, and 27,372 of them were rated 50kW or above. Almost all of it went in on land nobody picked for its flood characteristics: retail car parks, filling-station…
Posted on 30th July, 2026
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Can a Planning Condition Make You Fix a Flood Problem You Didn’t Cause?

Almost every developer who has taken a drainage condition through to discharge has met some version of this. The site floods. The gardens next door flood. The culvert downstream has been surcharging since long before anyone applied for anything. And…
Posted on 29th July, 2026
, in NPPF 
, in PPG 
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Shoreline Management Plans Explained: Hold the Line, Managed Realignment and No Active Intervention

England's coast runs to roughly 6,000km, and nearly all of it is covered by a shoreline management plan: the document that decides whether a stretch of shoreline gets defended, left alone, or allowed to move. A shoreline management plan (SMP)…
Posted on 27th July, 2026
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Erosion of trust: the government’s own words versus its coastal erosion grant

There is no coastal erosion compensation in the UK. If the sea takes your home, there is no insurance payout and no statutory compensation for the land or the building. Until 15 July 2026 there was a demolition grant that…
Posted on 24th July, 2026
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Flood Risk Assessment for a Care Home, Children’s Home or Supported Living

A flood risk assessment for a care home, children's home or supported living scheme is needed wherever the site sits in Flood Zone 2 or 3, and increasingly in Flood Zone 1 as well. The classification these uses take is…
Posted on 23rd July, 2026
, in NPPF 
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Sea Level Rise and Planning: Why 2100 Is No Longer the End of the Story

For most of UK practice, sea level rise and planning meet at a single tidy horizon: the end of this century. Flood risk assessments run their allowances out to the 2120s, defence schemes are appraised on similar timescales, and almost…
Posted on 22nd July, 2026
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What Will the Burnham Government Mean for Planning, Housing and Flood Risk?

Andy Burnham became Prime Minister on 20 July 2026, and the Burnham government's planning agenda is already taking shape. The cabinet is appointed, the first speech has been given, and the big in-flight reforms (the new NPPF, the national scheme…
Posted on 21st July, 2026
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Ground Investigation for Drainage and Flood Risk: What a Planning Application Needs

A ground investigation establishes what lies beneath a site: the soils, the rock under them, the depth of any made ground, and where the water sits. Drainage, foundations and earthworks can then be designed against measured conditions instead of assumed…
Posted on 20th July, 2026
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Local government reorganisation 2026: what England’s council shake-up means for flood risk and planning

England is part-way through the biggest reshaping of its councils in fifty years. Local government reorganisation replaces the two-tier system of county and district councils with single unitary authorities, and on 16 July 2026 the government confirmed the shift for…
Posted on 17th July, 2026
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Building Regulations Part H: Foul Water Explained

Building Regulations Part H is the part of the building rules that governs foul water drainage: how the used water from a building's toilets, sinks, baths and appliances is carried away safely. If you are building, extending or converting anything…
Posted on 15th July, 2026
, in SuDS 
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Discharge of Planning Conditions: Process, Timescales and Costs (2026)

Discharge of planning conditions is the formal step of asking your local planning authority to confirm, in writing, that a condition attached to your planning permission has been satisfied. In planning terms it is an “application for approval of details…
Posted on 14th July, 2026
, in NPPF 
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What Is a CON29DW Report? The Drainage and Water Search Explained

A CON29DW report is the official drainage and water search a conveyancer orders during a property purchase. Compiled from the water company's own records, it answers 26 standardised enquiries about how a property connects to the public water and sewer…
Posted on 10th July, 2026
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The SuDS Hierarchy Explained

The SuDS hierarchy is the order in which a development has to try to get rid of its surface water: reuse it first, then let it soak into the ground, then send it to a watercourse, then a surface water…
Posted on 9th July, 2026
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Do building control and planning talk to each other? Drainage, SuDS and the gap between them

A building control officer tells you the simplest thing to do is run the surface water into the sewer. Your planning condition says infiltration first, greenfield runoff rates, attenuation for a one-in-100-year storm. Both cannot be right, and only one…
Posted on 3rd July, 2026
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Retrospective Planning Permission: The 2026 Guide

Retrospective planning permission is planning permission applied for after building work has already started or finished. It is made under Section 73A of the Town and Country Planning Act 1990. It is then judged in exactly the same way as…
Posted on 2nd July, 2026
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Nutrient Neutrality in Planning: Catchments, Budgets and Credits

Nutrient neutrality is a legal test that prevents a local planning authority granting permission unless the extra nitrogen or phosphorus a development would send to a protected river, estuary or wetland is cancelled out. It is not a policy consideration…
Posted on 30th June, 2026
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What Is a SuDS Proforma and When Is It Required?

A SuDS proforma — also called a drainage proforma or sustainable drainage proforma — is a standardised summary form that goes in with a sustainable drainage strategy on a planning application. It sets out the key drainage information in a…
Posted on 26th June, 2026
, in SuDS 
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What is Water Neutrality? The 2026 Position for Planning

Water neutrality is a planning requirement that a development must not increase the total amount of water taken from the environment for public supply across a defined area. The extra demand created by new homes or buildings has to be…
Posted on 24th June, 2026
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Planning Application Invalidated? The Flood Risk and Drainage Documents You’re Missing

A planning application invalidated for flood risk or drainage almost always comes down to one thing: a document the local planning authority treats as mandatory is missing from the submission. Most often that is a flood risk assessment (FRA), a…
Posted on 22nd June, 2026
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Sequential test, exception test and the planning balance: lessons from the Yatton judgment

When a flood risk scheme fails the sequential test, does the decision end there? The High Court has now answered plainly. In *North Somerset District Council v Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government* [2026] EWHC 1430 (Admin),…
Posted on 18th June, 2026
, in NPPF 
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Leaky Dams and Flood Risk: What They Do, Where They Work, and What They Can’t Fix

Anyone who has watched the latest series of Clarkson's Farm will have seen Jeremy Clarkson wading into a stream at Diddly Squat to build what he gleefully describes, after a bit of reading on the government's website, as "large, leaky,…
Posted on 13th June, 2026
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What Is a Critical Drainage Area? Planning and FRA Rules for 2026

A critical drainage area is land where surface water runoff, drainage capacity or overland flow routes are sensitive enough that the planning authority wants flood risk settled before permission is granted, not after. If your site sits inside one, it…
Posted on 12th June, 2026
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When Is Infiltration Testing Required for Planning?

Infiltration testing is required when your drainage design relies on getting surface water into the ground and the planning authority wants evidence the ground will take it. In practice that means soakaways, infiltration trenches or permeable paving over an infiltrating…
Posted on 11th June, 2026
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Long Term Flood Risk Map: What It Shows and How to Read It

The long term flood risk map is the Environment Agency's public service for England. It shows the chance of flooding at a location from rivers and the sea, surface water, reservoirs and, where the data exists, groundwater, reported in four…
Posted on 5th June, 2026
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Can You Build a House on Stilts in a Flood Zone? Floodable Voids Explained

Yes, you can build a house on stilts in a flood zone in England, and a floodable void is the engineering that lets you do it. A floodable void is an open space beneath a building that floodwater flows into,…
Posted on 4th June, 2026
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Surface Water Flooding and Planning: A Complete Guide for Developers

Surface water is the most widespread source of flood risk in England, and the August 2026 National Planning Policy Framework has made how you handle it decisive at the planning stage. Getting surface water flooding and planning right now turns…
Posted on 1st June, 2026
, in SuDS 
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EA Flood Map for Planning: May 2026 Update — Surface Water Climate Change Data

On 28th May 2026 the Environment Agency added surface water climate change extents and banded depth layers to the Flood Map for Planning. The Check Your Long Term Flood Risk (CYLTFR) surface water data should no longer be used for…
Posted on 28th May, 2026
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Do SuDS count towards biodiversity net gain? What actually scores

Yes, sustainable drainage systems can count towards biodiversity net gain, but only the parts of a SuDS scheme that create real, lasting habitat, and only for what that habitat is genuinely worth. A planted basin, a wet pond or a…
Posted on 27th May, 2026
, in NPPF 
, in SuDS 
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BREEAM Flood Risk Assessments Explained

BREEAM is the leading sustainability standard for UK buildings, and how a scheme handles flood risk is one of the things it scores. A BREEAM flood risk assessment is a site-specific study of a development's flood risk, written so the…
Posted on 25th May, 2026
, in SuDS 
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Can AI Write a Flood Risk Assessment?

Ask any chatbot to write a flood risk assessment and it will hand you a confident, well-formatted document in seconds. That is the easy part. It is also the misleading part, because a flood risk assessment is not really a…
Posted on 20th May, 2026
, in AI 
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EA SWIM Explained: Building a Business Case for Small-Scale SuDS Investment

The Surface Water Investment Model (SWIM) is an Environment Agency approach, published on 18 May 2026, for building a business case to invest in many small sustainable drainage features across a wide area, rather than one large scheme, so their…
Posted on 19th May, 2026
, in SuDS 
, in SWIM 
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Property Flood Resilience and Planning: The 2025 FloodReady Action Plan, the CIRIA Code and Build Back Better

Property flood resilience (PFR) has moved from the margins of flood policy towards the centre of it. The 2025 FloodReady action plan, the maturing CIRIA Code of Practice, and insurance-side schemes like Build Back Better have made the idea of…
Posted on 14th May, 2026
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Padel Court Drainage and Flood Risk: What the Planning System Actually Asks For

Padel court drainage is the part of a padel planning application that almost nobody scopes, because the court is built to drain and everyone assumes that settles the question. It does not. The LTA's own construction guidance specifies a porous…
Posted on 12th May, 2026
, in NPPF 
, in SuDS 
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Do you need a flood risk assessment to convert a house into flats?

Usually, yes. A flood risk assessment when converting a house into flats is required wherever the site sits in Flood Zone 2 or 3, and in a growing number of Flood Zone 1 cases too. Flats are still homes, so…
Posted on 7th May, 2026
, in NPPF 
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Groundwater Monitoring for Planning: Requirements, Timing and Delays

Groundwater monitoring for planning is the process of measuring how the water table beneath a site rises and falls over the seasons, usually to prove that an infiltration-based drainage scheme will actually work. It is most often needed where Sustainable…
Posted on 14th April, 2026
, in SuDS 
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Source Control in UK Drainage: SuDS at Plot Level

Source control means managing rainfall as close as possible to where it lands, before it has a chance to run off into the wider drainage network. It sits at the very top of the SuDS hierarchy, and in principle it…
Posted on 9th April, 2026
, in SuDS 
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Why Some Floods Get Investigated and Others Don’t: Section 19 Reports Explained

A Section 19 flood investigation is the report a lead local flood authority publishes after a flood it has decided is serious enough to look into. It records what flooded, why it flooded, which authorities held responsibilities, and what each…
Posted on 7th April, 2026
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The barn or the field? Flood risk for holiday lets, cabins and farm diversification

A holiday let flood risk assessment is required for any permanent holiday unit in Flood Zone 2 or 3, and for units in Flood Zone 1 on a site of a hectare or more, in a critical drainage area, or…
Posted on 6th April, 2026
, in NPPF 
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What Drainage Information Is Needed for Planning Permission?

For years it was standard practice to secure surface water drainage by planning condition and work up the detailed design after permission was granted. That route still exists. What has changed is how much a planning application has to demonstrate…
Posted on 2nd April, 2026
, in SuDS 
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Planning Appeals 2026: Why Flood Risk and Drainage Must Be Right First Time

A planning appeal on flood risk grounds is now, in most cases, decided on the evidence that was already sitting in the application file. Since 1 April 2026 most appeals in England run through a streamlined written representations procedure, and…
Posted on 27th March, 2026
, in PINS 
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LLFA Objection to a Planning Application: Why Drainage Strategies Are Rejected and How to Resolve It

An LLFA objection to a planning application is one of the most common hurdles a development can hit, and one of the most resolvable. It rarely means the scheme is unacceptable in principle. It means the Lead Local Flood Authority,…
Posted on 23rd March, 2026
, in LLFA 
, in SuDS 
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Environment Agency Objection to Your Planning Application (Flood Risk): How to Resolve It

An Environment Agency objection to a planning application on flood risk grounds is unsettling, but it is rarely the end of a scheme. In most cases it means the flood risk evidence in front of the local planning authority is…
Posted on 23rd March, 2026
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Environment Agency Product 4 Flood Data: How to Request It

Environment Agency Product 4 flood data is the detailed dataset most Flood Risk Assessments in England are built on, and it is requested free through the Flood Map for Planning service with a statutory 20-working-day deadline attached. This guide covers…
Posted on 20th March, 2026
, in GIS 
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Why an Expert Should Write Your Flood Risk Assessment

A flood risk assessment looks like a document. What you are buying is the judgement behind it. Which source of flooding actually governs the site, whether the published mapping can be trusted at this scale, what the reviewing authority will…
Posted on 11th March, 2026
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CIRIA C821 Explained: Community Maintenance of Flood Risk Assets

CIRIA C821 is a free three-part guidance suite, published in 2025, on how community groups can help maintain local flood risk assets and how the authorities responsible for those assets should work with them. Its value is the line it…
Posted on 6th March, 2026
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Flood Funding Reform 2026: The New FCERM Guidance Explained

Defra has published new guidance governing how flood and coastal erosion schemes in England will be funded and prioritised from 2026 onwards. This is not a minor procedural update. It reshapes how projects are classified, how funding levels are calculated,…
Posted on 3rd March, 2026
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Flood Risk Vulnerability Classification: The 2026 NPPF Guide (Annex F, Table 2)

Flood risk vulnerability classification is the system in the National Planning Policy Framework (NPPF) that sorts every type of development by how badly flooding would affect it: by consequence, not probability. It places each use in one of five categories,…
Posted on 2nd March, 2026
, in NPPF 
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Wales’ £85m Flood Investment Explained

The Welsh Government has announced £85 million of funding for flood and coastal erosion risk management in Wales for 2026 – 27, describing it as the highest annual allocation ever delivered. The headline figure is significant. It builds on more…
Posted on 27th February, 2026
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Sewage Capacity and Planning: Why Water Infrastructure Now Decides What Gets Built

Channel 4's Dirty Business was reviewed as a "blast of controlled fury" aimed at Britain's water industry. The drama was about sewage. The consequence for anyone trying to build is narrower and far more practical: in parts of England, sewage…
Posted on 25th February, 2026
, in SuDS 
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Types of Flooding Explained: Sources of Flood Risk

Flooding can arise from several different sources, and understanding the types of flooding that may affect a site is an essential part of assessing flood risk for property, land and development proposals. While many people associate flooding primarily with rivers…
Posted on 19th February, 2026
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Still in a Flood Zone After New Flood Defences? What Actually Changes

A new flood wall goes up, an embankment is raised, a storage basin is finished after years of consultation. Then you open the map and nothing has moved. If you are still in a flood zone after flood defences have…
Posted on 16th February, 2026
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Why Is My House in a Flood Zone if It Has Never Flooded?

"Why is my house in a flood zone? We have lived here for years and it has never flooded." Being never flooded but in a flood zone is not a contradiction, and it is not a mistake on the map.…
Posted on 16th February, 2026
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Approved Despite Flood Risk? What the 2026 NPPF Actually Requires

"Approved despite flood risk fears" is a stock headline in England's local press, and it usually means the same thing: residents describe flooded roads or overwhelmed drains, councillors record their worry, and permission is granted anyway. The reading most people…
Posted on 16th February, 2026
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Managed retreat from flood risk at Clydach Terrace

Sixteen flood-prone homes on Clydach Terrace in Ynysybwl, Rhondda Cynon Taf, are set to be purchased and demolished by the local authority, bringing an end to years of repeated flooding, fear and uncertainty for the people who live there. Publicly,…
Posted on 3rd February, 2026
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Flood risk data delay slows planning and housing delivery

Yesterday, on 29th January 2026, updated surface water flood risk data was due to be published for use in development planning. Late in the day, it was confirmed that the release had been delayed, with no revised publication date and…
Posted on 30th January, 2026
, in NPPF 
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Climate Change Allowances for Flood Risk Assessments: Which One Do You Use?

Climate change allowances are the uplift figures the Environment Agency expects you to build into a flood risk assessment so a development stays safe for its whole lifetime rather than only on the day it opens. There are four of…
Posted on 21st January, 2026
, in NPPF 
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When Do You Need a Flood Risk Assessment (FRA)?

Do I need a flood risk assessment? For most people the answer turns on two things: where the site sits on the Environment Agency’s flood map, and what you plan to do with it. A flood risk assessment, or FRA,…
Posted on 19th January, 2026
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What the Gladman Judgment Means for the Sequential Test

Flood risk, planning appeals and the High Court The High Court’s judgment in Gladman Developments Ltd v Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government and Lancaster City Council (15 January 2026) is an important decision on flood risk,…
Posted on 16th January, 2026
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What Is Flood Re? A Clear Guide to the UK Flood Insurance Scheme

Flood Re is a UK government-backed reinsurance scheme that keeps home flood insurance available and affordable for households at higher flood risk. Set up under the Water Act 2014 and launched in April 2016, it lets insurers pass the flood…
Posted on 7th January, 2026
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Below Standard Flood Defences: Protected on Paper, Vulnerable in Practice

Flood defence condition is measured against a target, not against whether a wall is still standing. On 1 April 2026 the Environment Agency reported that 93% of its flood risk assets in high consequence systems were in the required condition,…
Posted on 24th December, 2025
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December 2025 NPPF Draft | Flood Risk and Sequential Test

Update, 17 August 2026: the final Framework has now been published and replaces the December 2024 NPPF. This article is retained as a record of what the consultation draft proposed. For what the published version actually changed, read our full…
Posted on 18th December, 2025
, in NPPF 
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Flood Map for Planning Wales: Flood Zones Explained

The Flood Map for Planning Wales is the official map used to assess flood risk in the Welsh planning system. Produced by Natural Resources Wales (NRW), it shows where land is at risk of flooding from rivers, the sea, and…
Posted on 14th November, 2025
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TAN 15 Explained: Flood Risk and Development in Wales

Technical Advice Note 15 – Development, Flooding and Coastal Erosion (TAN 15) – is Welsh Government planning guidance that sets out how flood risk and coastal erosion must be addressed in the planning system in Wales. The current version came…
Posted on 12th November, 2025
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Flood Resilience in England: A Wake-Up Call

Flooding in England is no longer a localised hazard — it is a national systems challenge. The House of Commons Environmental Audit Committee’s latest report, Flood Resilience in England (HC 550, October 2025), delivers a blunt assessment: the country remains…
Posted on 29th October, 2025
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Arun’s SuDS Design Checklists: From Outline Application to Occupation

The Arun SuDS design checklists are five separate documents, published by Arun District Council in October 2025, and between them they govern a scheme from its first outline drawing to the day someone moves in. They align the district with…
Posted on 27th October, 2025
, in SuDS 
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Integrating Rainwater Harvesting into SuDS Design

Rainwater harvesting in SuDS design sits in an odd position. Collection for non-potable use is Priority 1 in the national discharge hierarchy, ahead of infiltration, a watercourse and any surface water or combined sewer. Yet on most planning applications the…
Posted on 24th October, 2025
, in SuDS 
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Green SuDS: Nature-Based Drainage in Modern Planning

Green SuDS are nature-based drainage features — swales, rain gardens, basins, green roofs and wetlands — that manage rainwater using vegetation and soil rather than buried pipes and tanks. Across England's planning system they have become the preferred form of…
Posted on 22nd October, 2025
, in SuDS 
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What Is CIWEM? The Chartered Institution of Water and Environmental Management Explained

If you have ever read a flood risk assessment or a drainage strategy and seen the letters MCIWEM or C.WEM after a consultant's name, you have already met CIWEM. It is the professional body that sits behind those letters, and…
Posted on 17th October, 2025
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Planning for Flood Risk: The NPPF Explained

The NPPF is the National Planning Policy Framework: the government's planning policy for England, which councils apply when they decide planning applications and prepare local plans. The current Framework was published on 17 August 2026 and replaces every edition issued…
Posted on 16th October, 2025
, in NPPF 
, in SuDS 
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Defra and Its Role in England’s Flood Risk Management

The Department for Environment, Food & Rural Affairs (Defra) plays a central role in how flood risk is managed across England. It is responsible for national policy, legislation and funding for flood and coastal erosion risk management (FCERM). Although Defra…
Posted on 16th October, 2025
, in NPPF 
, in SuDS 
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Defra Confirms £10.5bn Flood Defence Funding Overhaul

In April, Defra’s consultation proposing a major overhaul of England’s flood funding system was launched, aiming to simplify access to investment and accelerate protection for communities most at risk. That consultation has now concluded, and the government has confirmed that…
Posted on 14th October, 2025
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Early SuDS Planning: CIRIA C823F and What the 2026 NPPF Now Requires

Early SuDS planning means settling the surface water question at land acquisition and site appraisal, before roads, levels and plot positions are fixed. Since 17 August 2026 that is no longer only good practice. CIRIA's guide Enabling development: Getting SuDS…
Posted on 6th October, 2025
, in SuDS 
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PPG flood risk: what the September 2025 Sequential Test update changed

The PPG flood risk guidance changed on 17th September 2025, and the four paragraphs it rewrote decide how a Sequential Test gets scoped and evidenced today. The sequential approach now reads across every source of flooding, surface water included. A…
Posted on 22nd September, 2025
, in NPPF 
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TCPA Raises Alarm on the Sequential Test: How Valid Are Their Concerns?

In August 2025 the Town and Country Planning Association (TCPA) issued a strongly worded briefing note on the sequential test. The paper reflects growing unease that the cornerstone of flood risk planning policy is being eroded through recent appeal decisions.…
Posted on 12th September, 2025
, in NPPF 
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Flood Map for Planning: What It Shows and How to Use It

The Flood Map for Planning is the Environment Agency's official online map of flood risk from rivers and the sea across England, used in the planning system to decide whether flooding needs to be assessed for a site. It is…
Posted on 29th August, 2025
, in NPPF 
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Flood Zones Explained: Zone 1, 2 and 3 (England)

Flood zones are how the planning system in England describes the chance of a site flooding from rivers or the sea. They sort land into Flood Zone 1, 2 or 3 (with Zone 3 split into 3a and 3b), from…
Posted on 28th August, 2025
, in NPPF 
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Declaring flooding when selling a house: TA6 rules, the law and how to check flood history

If a home you are selling has ever flooded, you have to say so. When selling a property in England and Wales you have to declare flooding, because flood history is one of the material facts a seller must disclose,…
Posted on 27th August, 2025
, in Law 
, in TA6 
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EA Flood Map for Planning: August 2025 Update

On the 27th August 2025, the Environment Agency (EA) will roll out changes to the Flood Map for Planning (FMfP). This update aims to make climate change flood risk data easier to use at the planning stage, while keeping the…
Posted on 15th August, 2025
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Can the Sequential Test Be Reformed to Unlock Homes?

As appeals like Faversham and Yatton make clear, national policy on flood risk is straining under its own weight. The Sequential Test — originally designed to steer vulnerable development away from areas at highest flood risk — is now increasingly…
Posted on 25th July, 2025
, in NPPF 
, in SuDS 
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Flood Forecasting Centre vs the Environment Agency: Who Forecasts, Who Warns

The Flood Forecasting Centre forecasts flooding. The Environment Agency warns the public about it. Two organisations, two jobs, and a boundary almost nobody outside the responder community can draw. It matters more than it sounds. A planning condition can hang…
Posted on 8th July, 2025
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Met Office Flood Warnings: Who Actually Issues Them

The Met Office does not issue flood warnings. That one fact clears up most of the confusion behind the phrase, because a search for Met Office flood warnings almost always ends up somewhere else. The Environment Agency issues flood alerts…
Posted on 7th July, 2025
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Faversham Appeal Shifts Flood Risk Sequential Test Best Practice

A recent appeal decision (Ref: APP/V2255/W/24/3350524) has stirred interest across the planning and flood risk sectors. The case concerned an outline application for 250 homes on land at Ham Road, Faversham — partly at risk from tidal and surface water…
Posted on 3rd July, 2025
, in NPPF 
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Mayor of London Issues Urgent Basement Flash Flood Warning

As this year’s London Climate Action Week came to a close, the Mayor of London issued a direct and sobering warning to thousands of residents living in basement flats: be prepared for flash floods. As Sadiq Khan put it, “The…
Posted on 1st July, 2025
, in SuDS 
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What is BS 6297 infiltration testing for foul drainage fields?

BS 6297 infiltration testing measures whether the ground on a site can absorb and treat effluent safely, and it is what decides whether a drainage field is a workable way to deal with foul drainage where there is no mains…
Posted on 26th June, 2025
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National Standards for Sustainable Drainage Systems (SuDS): What They Require in 2026

The National Standards for Sustainable Drainage Systems are Defra's design rules for how surface water is managed on new development in England. Defra published them on 19 June 2025 and updated them on 30 July 2025, replacing the thin 2015…
Posted on 20th June, 2025
, in NPPF 
, in SuDS 
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£7.9bn Flood Defence Programme: What the Money Actually Buys

The £7.9 billion flood defence programme is the ten-year capital settlement for flood and coastal erosion risk management in England. It was set at the June 2025 Spending Review, started on 1 April 2026 and runs to March 2036. Over…
Posted on 19th June, 2025
, in NPPF 
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Riparian Ownership: Rights, Responsibilities and Guidance

Riparian ownership means owning land that sits next to, above or contains a watercourse: a river, stream, brook or ditch. Unless your title deeds say otherwise, the law presumes you own the bed and banks of that channel up to…
Posted on 6th June, 2025
, in FRAP 
, in IDB 
, in LLFA 
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Defra Unveils Major Overhaul of Flood Funding System

The UK is entering a pivotal phase in its approach to managing flood risk. On 3 June 2025, Minister Emma Hardy launched a major consultation at the Flood & Coast Conference, setting out the government's proposed reforms to the Flood…
Posted on 3rd June, 2025
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Thames Water Crisis 2026: Sewage, Capacity and Flood Risk by Area

The Thames Water crisis has moved a long way since the record fine of May 2025, and the part that matters most to anyone building in the Thames Valley is no longer the debt. It is capacity. Ofwat's investigation found…
Posted on 28th May, 2025
, in SuDS 
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Planning with EA Flood Risk Standing Advice

The Environment Agency's flood risk standing advice is national guidance that lets a local planning authority in England decide a planning application on flood risk without consulting the Environment Agency case by case. Written out in full it is the…
Posted on 23rd May, 2025
, in NPPF 
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What the 2025–30 London Surface Water Strategy Means for Planning

As climate change accelerates and urban environments become denser, cities around the world face mounting challenges in managing water. Nowhere is this truer than in London, where the convergence of ageing infrastructure, rising population pressures, and increasingly erratic weather patterns…
Posted on 22nd May, 2025
, in SuDS 
, in TfL 
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New TAN15 2025: Flood & Planning Policy Update

The new TAN15 took effect on 31 March 2025, and it is the largest change to flood risk planning in Wales in more than twenty years. Technical Advice Note 15: Development, Flooding and Coastal Erosion replaced an edition written in…
Posted on 2nd April, 2025
, in NRW 
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Sequential Test Failed, Appeal Allowed: What Yatton Means for Planning

A recent planning appeal decision in Yatton provides an insightful take on how the Sequential and Exception Tests are interpreted and applied within flood risk planning policy. This appeal, concerning the proposed development of a residential scheme on land south…
Posted on 28th March, 2025
, in NPPF 
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EA Flood Map for Planning: 2025 Update Explained

On 25th March 2025, the Environment Agency (EA) launched a major update to its Flood Map for Planning (FMfP), marking a pivotal shift in how flood risk is represented for the planning system in England. This update integrates findings from…
Posted on 27th March, 2025
, in NPPF 
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Ordinary Watercourse Consent (OWC): The Complete Guide

Ordinary watercourse consent (OWC) is the written permission you need under Section 23 of the Land Drainage Act 1991 before carrying out any work that would obstruct or alter the flow of an ordinary watercourse: a stream, ditch, culvert or…
Posted on 28th February, 2025
, in EA 
, in IDB 
, in OWC 
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Septic tank regulations in England: the General Binding Rules in 2026

The General Binding Rules are the statutory conditions that let a septic tank or a small sewage treatment plant discharge legally in England without an environmental permit. There are 23 of them. Meet every rule that applies to your discharge…
Posted on 28th February, 2025
, in SuDS 
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NaFRA2 Guidance: Flood Map for Planning Updates

Understanding NaFRA2 and Its Impact on Flood Risk Assessments The Environment Agency (EA) has today provided new guidance on how NaFRA2 data will shape the future of the Flood Map for Planning. These updates will significantly influence local planning policies,…
Posted on 11th February, 2025
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£2bn Boost for UK Flood Defences to Combat Rising Risks

The UK government has pledged an additional £250 million in flood defence funding, bringing the total investment to £2.65 billion over the next two years. The announcement follows a series of devastating storms and widespread flooding, with the government seeking…
Posted on 5th February, 2025
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Understanding and Managing Flood Risk with NaFRA2

Read our latest update on NaFRA2 here. Flooding is one of the most significant environmental risks in England, affecting millions of properties and critical infrastructure. As climate change accelerates, the need for accurate, up-to-date flood risk data has never been…
Posted on 28th January, 2025
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Flood and Water Management Act 2010: A Practitioner’s Guide

The Flood and Water Management Act 2010 (FWMA) is the law that governs how flood risk is managed in England and Wales. It received Royal Assent on 8 April 2010, made county and unitary councils responsible for local flooding, gave…
Posted on 6th January, 2025
, in LLFA 
, in SuDS 
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The Pitt Review: impact, legacy and the gaps that remain

The 2007 floods turned the wettest summer on record into the most destructive inland flooding Britain had seen in modern times. Thirteen people died, more than 55,000 properties went under, around 7,000 people were rescued, and the bill came to…
Posted on 3rd January, 2025
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The Sequential and Exception Tests Explained (2026 Update)

Updated 17 August 2026. This guide has been rewritten for the new National Planning Policy Framework, which the Government published on 17 August 2026. The new Framework replaced the December 2024 version and changed how the sequential and exception tests…
Posted on 16th December, 2024
, in NPPF 
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What is BRE365 Infiltration Testing (Soakaway Design)?

BRE365 infiltration testing is the in-ground test that measures how fast your site's soil can absorb surface water, so you can prove a soakaway will work and size it correctly. It follows BRE Digest 365, the standard UK method for…
Posted on 2nd December, 2024
, in NPPF 
, in SuDS 
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Compensatory flood storage explained: level for level design for planning

Posted on 1st November, 2024
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Flood Risk Activity Permits (FRAP): When You Need One, and When You Don’t

A flood risk activity permit (FRAP) is the environmental permit you need before working on, under, over or near a main river, a flood defence, a sea defence or a floodplain in England. The Environment Agency issues it under the…
Posted on 6th September, 2024
, in EA 
, in FRAP 
, in NRW 
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Main Rivers and Ordinary Watercourses: A Guide for Planning

Every river, stream, brook and ditch in England and Wales is legally either a main river or an ordinary watercourse, and the difference decides who regulates it, who maintains it, and whose consent you need before you build near it.…
Posted on 5th September, 2024
, in EA 
, in FRAP 
, in NRW 
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Water Companies and the Planning Process: A Developer’s Guide

Water companies and the planning process are closely tied, even though the water company rarely appears on a decision notice. When you develop a site, your regional water and sewerage company is the body that confirms whether the network can…
Posted on 2nd September, 2024
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What Is a Local Planning Authority (LPA)? A Guide for Developers

A local planning authority (LPA) is the council responsible for deciding planning applications in its area and for shaping how land is used and developed. Almost every development, from a single-storey extension to a housing scheme, passes through an LPA…
Posted on 30th August, 2024
, in NPPF 
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Natural Resources Wales (NRW): flood risk and planning

Natural Resources Wales (NRW) is the Welsh Government-sponsored body that manages flood risk in Wales and advises the planning system on it. It is the Welsh equivalent of the Environment Agency, formed on 1 April 2013 when Environment Agency Wales,…
Posted on 29th August, 2024
, in NRW 
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The Environment Agency (EA): Flood Risk and Planning

The Environment Agency is the government's statutory adviser on flood risk in the English planning system. It does not decide planning applications, but where a site carries flood risk its advice usually shapes whether permission is granted, refused, or held…
Posted on 28th August, 2024
, in NPPF 
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Internal Drainage Boards (IDBs): what they do and why they matter for planning

An internal drainage board, usually shortened to IDB, is an independent public body that manages water levels and land drainage across a defined low-lying area where gravity drainage alone will not do the job. England has 112 of them, covering…
Posted on 27th August, 2024
, in NPPF 
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Lead Local Flood Authority (LLFA): What It Is and Which Is Yours

A Lead Local Flood Authority (LLFA) is the county council or unitary authority responsible for managing local flood risk across its area: surface water, groundwater and ordinary watercourses. There are 153 of them in England. On major planning applications the…
Posted on 26th August, 2024
, in LLFA 
, in NPPF 
, in SuDS 
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What Is a Strategic Flood Risk Assessment (SFRA)?

A strategic flood risk assessment (SFRA) is the flood risk evidence base a local planning authority produces for its whole area, covering every source of flooding, now and under climate change. Every local planning authority in England has to prepare…
Posted on 23rd August, 2024
, in NPPF 
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How to Challenge the Environment Agency Flood Map

There is no form. If you want to challenge the Environment Agency flood map in England, the first thing to understand is that the Environment Agency publishes no procedure for doing it. There is no application route, no evidence checklist…
Posted on 3rd June, 2024
, in NPPF 
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Applying the Sequential Test Post-Mead: A Guide for Planning Professionals

A recent decision of the High Court, upheld by the Court of Appeal in Mead Realisations Ltd v Secretary of State for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities [2024] EWHC 279, has clarified several key aspects of national planning policy relating…
Posted on 20th February, 2024
, in NPPF 
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The New TAN15: A Policy U-Turn with Lasting Implications for Flood Risk Management in Wales

When the Welsh Government announced plans to overhaul Technical Advice Note 15 (TAN15), it signalled a bold shift towards more stringent flood risk management in Wales. Designed to replace the 2004 TAN15 guidance, the new TAN15 aimed to integrate updated…
Posted on 22nd November, 2023
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Building on Floodplains: A Developer’s Guide to the 2026 Rules

Building on floodplains is not banned in England, but whether a scheme gets consent comes down to three things: the flood zone the land sits in, the type of development proposed, and the strength of the flood risk evidence submitted…
Posted on 18th September, 2015
, in NPPF 
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