Housing developers 'to be blocked' from building on flood plains

Planning minister Nick Boles is expected to announce the plans, which can help avoid flooding on some areas in the UK.

16:38 06 March 2014

Due to recent flooding that has severely affected several areas in the United Kingdom, Planning Minister Nick Boles is now expected to announce guidelines that could be used to block developers from building homes on flood plains. The changes would mean councils will no longer be forced to take other local authorities’ housing allocations if they conflict with national policy.

Many people are now hoping that the new guidelines will help ensure that expert advice will be seriously considered during the planning process.

Although the Prime Minister said that expert advice was always followed during the planning process, the Environment Agency figures suggest otherwise. In 2012-13, applications for 560 residential properties across England and Wales were approved in areas of flood risk, against the agency’s advice. Prior to the announcement of the new guidelines, a total of 570 new houses are planned to be built near land in Longford that was severely affected by water for the past few weeks.

The scheme was initially rejected before being approved on appeal in 2008. 

Longford Parish Council chairman Pete Gough told Sky News: "We thought it was a lot of nonsense, really.

"We thought the Secretary of State would have intervened, and said there's lots of places you can build without building on the flood plains, or near the flood plains. It just seems so daft."