Designed to keep water out of your property.

Resistance measures aim to stop or limit flood water entering your home in the first place. They help buy valuable time to move precious possessions out of flood reach, and get yourself to a place of safety. As well as reduce the depth of water inside the property.

Examples include:

• Flood doors and demountable barriers
• Self-closing air bricks
• Non-return valves on drainage systems
• Toilet bungs and internal seals

There are many ways flood water can enter your home, it is important to have resistance measures in place at these points to reduce the impact of the flood. You can see a list of entry points here.

Why it matters: These measures provide crucial time to move possessions and, most importantly, get yourself and your family to safety if flooding is expected. Resistance is about prevention wherever possible.

You can find out more about different PFR measures you can implement in your home here.

Designed to reduce damage if water does get in.

Sometimes, stopping water entirely isn’t achievable. Recoverability focuses on minimising damage and speeding up recovery.

This means making practical changes inside your home so that materials can withstand flooding and dry out more quickly.

Examples include:

• Waterproof tiling and grouting instead of carpets
• Raised electrical sockets and services
• Water-resistant kitchen units and finishes
• Solid flooring instead of absorbent materials

Why it matters: Recoverability measures can significantly reduce repair time, disruption and long-term damage. Research shows that including recoverability measures into your home can reduce your time spent in alternative accommodation from 210 days to 0 days.

Recoverability is about bouncing back faster and stronger.

Knowing what to do – before, during and after flooding.

Preparedness underpins both resistance and recoverability, and therefore is the most important of the three key areas. It ensures measures are maintained and that you know how to respond quickly and safely.

Examples include:

• Creating a household flood plan
• Signing up for free flood warnings
  • England
  • Wales
  • Scotland
  • Northern Ireland
• Checking your long-term flood risk
• Knowing how and when to deploy flood barriers
• Keeping important documents and valuables protected

Why it matters: Preparedness doesn’t require major building work, but it can make a major difference. Research shows only 29% of those who had previously experienced flooding said that they knew what they would do in a flood, so make sure you are prepared and in control.

Flood ReThink is a national campaign shifting the conversation:

• ReThink risk – Flooding can affect anyone, anywhere.
• ReThink resilience – Practical, everyday measures can significantly reduce damage and disruption.
• ReThink the future – The decisions we make now will determine how prepared we are for the next ten years.

Throughout the year, we are taking Flood ReThink across the UK, bringing expert insight directly to communities, industry and policymakers.

This includes the Contain the Rain garden at the RHS Chelsea Flower Show 2026, highlighting how outside spaces can play a vital role in managing rainfall and reducing flood risk.

The main objective of PFR measures is both slow the speed at which water enters your home, in the event of a flood, and to ensure the flood causes less damage. Ultimately, this allows you to protect what’s most important to you and get back into your home quicker.

There are three core components to protecting your home against flooding and these are:

Resistance: Stopping or slowing the entry of flood waters into your home to give you time to rescue cherished possessions and get your loved ones to safety.

Recoverability: Sometimes resistance measures do not keep all flood water out of your home, so these measures are designed to minimise damage, should you experience a flood.

Preparedness: The process of knowing exactly what to do and when should flooding occur, as well as making sure your resilience measures are maintained.

A common misconception is that PFR measures are expensive, and this is not always the case; just a small change can sometimes make a big difference. The average flood insurance claim in 2025 was around £30,000.

Crucially, PFR measures have been shown to be a fantastic return on investment.

In short, maybe. One in six properties in England are at risk of flood damage.

We’ve compiled a comprehensive list of resources here, which should help give you a clearer picture of how high your risk is likely to be.

Flood Re is a joint initiative between the Government and the insurance industry, established in 2016, to ensure that flood insurance remains available and affordable in areas of high flood risk. It puts a cap on the price consumers pay for insurance premiums.

Flood Re is required to exit the market in 2039, at which point prices in the insurance market will reflect flood risk. Part of its role is to plan for this transition, to ensure the market remains self-sufficient and householders living with flood risk can continue to access affordable insurance.

The Flood Re scheme, which ensures homes at flood risk can be insured, does not cover properties built after 2009. This is because planning policy has been deemed strong enough, since this date, to ensure flood risk is designed out through the planning system.

Since its launch in 2015, 98% of householders with a prior flood claim(s) can now receive quotes from ten or more insurers. 4 out of 5 householders with previous flood claim(s) have seen a price reduction of more than 50%.

Flood Re Annual Review 2025