To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government if she will place in the Library copies of the submissions to the consultation on the most recent revision to PPS25. (153784)

A report summarising the responses to the Planning Policy Statement 25 Development and Flood Risk consultation has been placed in the Library of the House and is also available on the Communities and Local Government website. This is located at:

www.communities.gov.uk/documents/planningandbuilding/pdf/154211.

Responses can be viewed on request at the Eland House offices of Communities and Local Government.

To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government (1) how many homes built in the last 10 years suffered flood damage in June and July 2007; (153843)

Local authorities have provided their own figures on the number of households affected by flooding (defined as those residential properties where the habitable accommodation has been affected, and excluding those, where—for example—only garage and/or outbuildings were affected). On that basis, information held as of 25 September 2007 estimates that 47,933 households were flooded in June and July. The figures may include some households which flooded on both occasions. We do not hold data which allows us to identify whether individual houses were damaged by the flooding.

The information requested on how many homes built in the last 10 years suffered flood damage in June and July 2007 is not held centrally and could be provided only at disproportionate cost.

To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government what the source is of the dataset Areas of Land at Risk of Flooding held on her Department’s MapsOnTap database. (153915)

The source of the data set, Areas of Land at Risk of Flooding, held on the ‘Maps on Tap’ database is the Environment Agency.

To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government what proportion of new domestic dwellings were built in areas of flood risk in each Government office region in England in the most recent year for which figures are available. (156518)

On a provisional estimate, 9 per cent. of all new dwellings in England in 2005 were built in flood risk areas. A more robust estimate for 2004 shows that 10 per cent. of all new dwellings in England were built in flood risk areas during that year. The following table gives a breakdown by Government office region of the percentage of new dwellings built in flood risk areas for the last 10 years.

Flood risk is a major factor in the location of new development. Flood risk areas account for about 10 per cent. of land in England, including parts of major cities, and around 10 per cent. of the population already live in flood risk areas. The Government’s aim is to avoid inappropriate development in areas of high flood risk. The Government published planning policy statement (PPS25) in December 2006 to strengthen and clarify earlier policy on this issue.

PPS25 ensures that flood risk must be taken into account at all stages of the planning process. Development that would not be safe in the higher flood risk areas should be directed to areas of lower risk wherever this is practicable. In particular, more vulnerable development, such as housing, should not be permitted in high risk areas unless it can be clearly demonstrated that the need for the development outweighs the risk, and it will be safe, without increasing flood risk.

The definition of high flood risk areas and floodplain used by Communities and Local Government is the high risk zone mapped by the Environment Agency as being at a probability of flooding, excluding the presence of flood defences, of at least a one in 100 each year for river flooding and at least a one in 200 for coastal flooding. This is the basis for the definition of ‘high risk areas’ in PPS25.