To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government how many houses indicated in plans scheduled for completion by 2020 in London and the South East are to be built in areas determined by the Environment Agency as liable for flooding, broken down by site. (78956)

This information is not held centrally by the Department for Communities and Local Government but may be available from local planning authorities in London and the South East, as the bodies responsible for preparing development plans.

Planning Policy Guidance Note 25 (PPG25) Development and Flood Risk requires local planning authorities to apply a sequential test to land at risk of flooding. The test has regard to the area liable to flooding, the probability of it occurring and the extent and standard of flood defences among other factors.

For London, the risk of flooding was considered in the Greater London Authority’s London Housing Capacity study 2004, which assessed housing potential to 2027. Sites deemed unsuitable on flood risk grounds were excluded and many other sites with lower risk of flooding had their potential housing capacities reduced.

The Regional Monitoring Report 2005 produced by the South East England Regional Assembly indicates that the number of existing properties at risk from flooding in the South East is 235,000.