Published 16 June 2025
Last updated 2 July 2025 — See all updates
The largest flooding programme in history will be announced by
government this week, with a record £7.9 billion committed over
ten years to protect hundreds of thousands of homes, small
businesses, and vital infrastructure from the growing threat of
flooding.
From high-performance flood barriers to nature-based solutions
like wetland restoration, the programme will deliver long-term
protection for communities and strengthen local economies –
delivering on the government's Plan for Change.
This comes as the government gears up to announcing its landmark
Infrastructure Strategy – a targeted, long-term plan to invest in
Britain. The Strategy focuses on ensuring every penny of taxpayer
money spent delivers real returns for working people, through
stronger local economies, better jobs and more resilient
communities.
The new flooding programme is proof of that strategy in action.
Every £1 spent on flood defences expected to prevent around £8 in
economic damage, meaning significant savings for public services,
such as the NHS and schools.
The major funding pledge will bolster the government's mission of
accelerating economic growth, by reducing the time and costs
businesses face when recovering from floods and empowering them
to invest in local areas.
Environment Secretary said:
Protecting citizens is the first duty of any Government. Yet we
inherited crumbling flood defences in their worst condition on
record – exposing thousands of homes.
Under the Plan for Change, this Government is taking urgent
action with the largest flooding programme in our country's
history.
We will leave no stone unturned to protect our citizens.
Philip Duffy, chief executive at the Environment
Agency, said:
As our changing climate continues to bring more extreme weather
to the nation, it's never been more vital to invest in new flood
defences and repair our existing assets.
This long-term investment will be welcome news for businesses and
homeowners, who have too often faced the destructive nature of
flooding. Our priority will continue to be working with the
government and local authorities to ensure as many properties are
protected as possible.
The investment will also continue the government's plans to
protect cities and towns from the devastating impacts of
floodings, including from Oxford to Portsmouth and up to Derby
and Blackpool.
In the Spending Review, the Government also confirmed that £4.2
billion will be spent on the flooding programme over the next
three years (2026/7 to 2028/9), which will be focused on both
capital and resources such as building new defences and repairing
and maintaining existing ones.
Alongside this, the Government launched a
consultation on new proposals to introduce a simplified, more
transparent approach to bid for government funding for flood
defences. This will benefit councils that have less resource to
commit to the application process and will ensure money is
distributed more effectively across the country.
Additional information
- In the Spending Review, the Government set out the breakdown
of funding for flood defences over the next three years as part
of the Spending Review.
The £4.2 billion that will be spent over this SR period
(2026/27- 2028/29) includes capital and resource spending,
whereas the £7.9 billion ten-year settlement is solely capital
spending – meaning the total spent on boosting resilience will
be higher, subject to future Spending Reviews.
- The £7.9 billion does not include spending on routine
maintenance and incident management activities.
- This Government inherited flood assets in their poorest
condition on record following years of under investment and has
committed a record two-year investment of £2.65 billion with
52,000 properties set to benefit from new defences by March 2026.
- This £2.65 billion funding for 2024/25 to 2025/26 is not
included in the long-term flooding programme – it is additional:
Record investment to
protect thousands of UK homes and businesses - GOV.UK
- Assessments show that for every £1 invested in flood
defences, around £8 of damages are prevented – of which
roughly £3 are direct savings to the Exchequer because around 36%
of the damages caused by floods are to publicly owned
infrastructure like roads, railways, schools, and hospitals.
