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Flood Control: Business Premises

Asked by Rachael MaskellLabour (Co-op)Department for Environment, Food and Rural AffairsTabled Answered 13 January 2026UIN 103316

The question

To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what estimate she has made of the cost of flood protection measures to businesses which regularly flood in (a) the King's Staith area in York and (b) all other areas.

Answered by Emma Hardy

The properties along the historic Kings Staith waterfront are the lowest lying properties in the city and have no permanent flood wall defences due to heritage, buildability and economic reasons. Many of these properties now benefit from individual property flood resilience measures, which are an important intervention to reduce the likelihood and implications of flooding, and aid recovery in line with National Flood and Coastal Erosion Risk Management Strategy.

In the York Flood Alleviation Programme, the average installation cost of property level protection measures is £15,000.

The Government does not hold national data on the cost of flood protection measures specifically to businesses across all areas, as costs are determined on a property-by-property basis, through approved project business cases. Where Government funding is provided, costs and any business contributions are agreed locally as part of those schemes rather than through a single published estimate.

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