Flooding financial support

If your home or business has been affected by flooding, there is usually financial help available from a number of sources both locally and nationally.

We also strongly recommend also making sure you have suitable insurance.

Eligibility for grants will normally cover primary residences where, as a result of the relevant weather event flood water:

  • entered the habitable areas of the residence; or
  • did not enter into the habitable areas, but the local authority regards that the residence was otherwise considered unliveable for any period of time - this might include access to upper floor flats, key services such as sewage or electric being affected or where damage has meant residents are advised to vacate the property.

Second homes and empty homes will not typically be eligible.

For more information contact us.

Grants available following Storm Henk, January 2024

£500 Community Recovery Grant, Council Tax discount scheme and £120 Nottinghamshire County Council hardship payment for residents

Our applications for these schemes will close on 8 April 2024

UK Government has provided grants and funding through the Flood Recovery Framework which is available to homes that have been flooded as a result of Storm Henk. These grants may be available even if you received payments following Storm Babet or any previous severe weather event.

If you pay the Council Tax for your property and if your household had flood water enter habitable areas of your property or was uninhabitable for 48 hours or more you may be eligible for:

  1. The Community Recovery Grant of up to £500 per household
  2. The Council Tax discount scheme which is a 100% discount on your Council Tax for at least 3 months.

In addition, a hardship payment of £120 per household from Nottinghamshire County Council is also available using the same form.

Use our single online form to apply for the Community Recovery Grant, NCC hardship payment and the Council Tax discount scheme for residents.

Business Recovery Grant and Business Rates Relief Scheme following Storm Henk

Our applications for these schemes will close on 8 April 2024

Businesses that have been affected by flooding can apply for business rates relief and may be eligible to apply for the Government's Business Recovery Grant through our website.

The schemes available to affected businesses are:

• Business Rates Relief Scheme - This is 100% relief on your Business Rates for a period of at least 3 months. To receive this support, flood water must have entered the property, or the flooding seriously impacted upon the business's ability to trade from the property during the recent Storm Henk.

• Business Recovery Grant - This is a grant payment of £2,500 for those badly affected by the recent Storm Henk. In most cases, this will be a similar criteria as the Business Rate Relief Scheme above.

• Nottinghamshire County Council Hardship Grant - The Nottinghamshire Floods Hardship Fund supports residents and businesses affected by flooding. Small or micro businesses with up to 49 employees whose premises have flooded will be eligible for a payment of £300.

Property Flood Resilience (PFR) Repair Grant Funding

Residential and business properties that were flooded during Storm Babet or Storm Henk may be eligible for support from the Government through a £5,000 grant from DEFRA’s PFR Repair Grant funding. You can find more information on the Government’s response on their website.

Nottinghamshire County Council will be administering the grant scheme.

The survey cost will be £840 (which includes £140 of VAT), which will need to be paid upfront by you. Should you then decide to undertake the remedial works identified in the survey, then you will be reimbursed by £500. 

The remaining grant of £4,500 (to include VAT) will then be available to fund the remedial works as identified in the survey. Where works amount to more than £4,500 this would need to be paid for by you. 

Should, after the survey, you decide not to undertake the remedial works, the £500 towards the initial survey costs will not be reimbursable from the grant. 

Nottinghamshire County Council are asking that applicants do not engage with surveyors outside of their framework and allow Nottinghamshire County Council to put these in place. There is a possibility that if there are several properties in one street then the survey cost will be reduced. Nottinghamshire County Council are working with their appointed surveyors on this and confirmed applicants will be advised accordingly at the time Nottinghamshire County Council book the survey with them and take payment. 

DEFRA’s requirements for the Property Flood Resilience Repair grant are that property owners will be unable to claim any grant unless they have had a survey done, prior to works being completed, and that the survey must be completed by a suitably qualified surveyor, who is independent from the contractor carrying out the works. The surveyor must identify where the flooding came from and propose PFR measures suitable for the property. The surveyor will then need to sign off completed works as those identified in the survey, and check the standard of works and products used.

For more information on the eligibility criteria please take a look here.

Nottinghamshire County Council will commission surveys on behalf of property owners, to secure value for money and ensure compliance with DEFRA’s terms. DEFRA have capped the maximum contribution at £5,000 including VAT, which includes £500 including VAT for surveys – any costs in excess of this will need to be met by the property owner.

To apply for this scheme and to have your details passed to Nottinghamshire County Council please use this form.

Flooding insurance

Make sure you have home insurance in place to cover both your building (unless rented) and contents. Tip on insurance for flooding can be found on the Association of British Insurers (ABI) website.

All insurance companies operate an emergency 24-hour telephone helpline, which you should call as soon as you can.  A list of helplines of the major insurance companies is available on the web site of the Association of British Insurers.

Insurance companies should arrange builders and other repair work and help arrange emergency accommodation and other support. It is vital that you consult your insurance company before making repairs to your property. It will be very useful to them if you can take photographs of all parts of the building that are damaged.

Flood Re

Flood Re is a national scheme helping people who live in flood risk areas to get reasonably priced home insurance.

It’s not an insurer itself, but works behind the scenes with individual insurers to make sure insurance is available and affordable, even for the most at-risk properties.

Council tax and business rate relief

Some households may also eligible for council tax relief and businesses significantly affected with internal flooding will normally be eligible for business rates relief.

There is typically a minimum of three months of 100% relief from business rates, or longer if you are unable to resume trading from your property. The relief provided will be subject to state aid limits, and will only be available to properties with a rateable value less than £10m.