The Government has announced plans to pilot new Flood Performance Certificates (FPCs) to help homeowners access information about their property’s flood risk and increase resilience.

In an announcement today, the Government confirmed that FPCs are designed to serve as a ‘trusted source of information’ which help people understand their level of risk and signal where further action is required.

It will involve close work between homeowners, insurers and lenders, who will benefit from seeing how resilience information is assessed and communicated.

Approaches to be used in the pilot include a ‘Flood Performance Rating’, which outlines a property’s flood risk in terms of exposure, characteristics and resistance, using information provided by the ‘Check Your Flood Risk’ service.

By enabling households to become aware of their vulnerabilities, the pilots aim to promote an increased adoption of practical resilience measures – for example, self-closing air bricks, flood resilient kitchens and flood barriers.

FPCs are also intended to assist insurers and lenders with accessing more ‘consistent, comparable information and support positive impact on the affordability and availability of insurance’.

Testing of the certificates will begin this year in areas with flood risk, with the work on the pilots being implemented by Flood Re.

According to the statement, Flood Re is striving for app-based flood self-assessments to become standard practice.

Floods Minister Emma Hardy said: ‘Flooding is devastating for families and communities, and we need all households to know about their own flood risk and what can be done to reduce it.

She added: ‘This Flood Action Week, the Government is going further to protect communities and business while also providing the public the tools to check their flood risk, prepare a flood plan, and sign up for flood warnings to protect their home and family.’