Fewer Properties Protected From Floods as Government Funds Hit by Inflation

The government must secure value-for-money spending when executing flood protection plans, according to a public spending watchdog.

Residents walk through flood water in Retford in Nottinghamshire, England, after Storm Babet battered the UK, on Oct. 22, 2023. Joe Giddens/PA Wire

The government will be able to better protect 40 percent fewer properties from flooding damages by 2027, a report by the National Audit Office (NAO) has warned.

The UK has been recently battered by storms Babet and Ciaran, which put people’s lives at risk and caused flooding and coastal erosion. Last year, the country experienced three storms in February—Dudley, Eunice and Franklin—that affected hundreds of properties.