Flood Performance Certificates will be tested in England to show both a home’s exposure to flooding and how well it is prepared. Defra’s announcement on 13 October says work on pilots will begin in 2026, with more trials during 2027 and beyond.
The planned assessments would bring together information about flood risk, a property’s characteristics and measures that could reduce damage. Improvements such as flood barriers or water-resilient flooring would be reflected in the assessment.
That could be useful to landlords considering how to protect a rental home. The announcement concerns pilots, however: it does not set out which rented homes can take part or when certificates will become widely available.
Flood Re hopes resilience improvements will eventually be recognised by insurers. That remains an ambition; the announcement does not promise lower premiums for an individual property.
You can already use the government’s long-term flood-risk service for England to understand the risks in an area. It covers rivers and the sea, surface water, reservoirs and groundwater where data is available. It does not predict whether an individual home will flood or cover problems such as blocked drains and burst pipes.
Sources
- Defra: Flood Performance Certificate pilot announcement, published 13 October 2026.
- GOV.UK: check the long-term flood risk for an area in England.
