To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs how many homes have been (a) built, (b) built on flood plains, (c) built in areas of significant flood risk and (d) built against the advice of the Environment Agency due to flood risk in (i) each region and (ii) England in the last 10 years. (148954)

I have been asked to reply.

With regards to the homes that have been (a) built and (b) built on flood plains information from the Communities and Local Government’s Land Use Change Statistics and Completions data show the total number of dwellings built and the estimated number built on floodplains. Between 1996 and 2005 (the most recent 10 years for which data are available) there were 1,441,200 dwellings completed, of which an estimated 133,600 were built on flood risk areas.

Data are not available on the number of homes built against Environment Agency advice.

I also refer the hon. Member to the answer given by my hon. Friend the Member for Pontefract and Castleford (Yvette Cooper) to the hon. Member for Shrewsbury and Atcham (Daniel Kawczynski) on 8 January 2007, Official Report, column 369W.