Aviva boss warns England "for sure" building homes that could become uninsurable

Aviva’s chief executive has warned that England is “for sure” building homes that could become uninsurable in the future because of flood risk, even as that risk is “absolutely increasing”.

Amanda Blanc told the BBC’s Big Boss Interview podcast that, on current building patterns, 115,000 new homes would be built in flood zones in England over the next decade. “That doesn’t seem to me to make sense. We need to think about where those homes are being built,” she said.

“It’s very well known where these flooding areas are. Let’s think very carefully about homes that are being built,” she added.

According to the Environment Agency, about 6.3 million homes and businesses in England are at risk of flooding. Aviva’s own research, based on Ordnance Survey data and the agency’s flood maps, found one in nine homes built in England between 2022 and 2024 at medium to high risk of flooding.

Aviva calculates that nearly a third of new homes built in 2024 will face some flood risk by 2050, with one in seven at medium to high risk as extreme weather intensifies. The Met Office has estimated that record-breaking wet winters like 2023–24 have gone from once-in-80-year to once-in-20-year events under current global warming.

Blanc has separately urged Chancellor John Healey not to “fly kites” with Budget speculation ahead of 28 October, after rumours that the government might cut the 25% tax-free pension lump sum triggered a surge in early pension withdrawals last year, according to PA Media.