Flood Crunch: A Fiscal Appraisal for Commercial and Residential Properties in England

This paper establishes and applies a coherent and concise empirical framework for evaluating damage costs for commercial and residential properties during flooding in England by incorporating a novel methodology i.e. Flood Cost Assessment Tool. This research also analyses whether these damage costs significantly impact on the national economy as well as local economies. This strategy differs from previous economic flood damage estimation models by focusing on different grades of properties and level of damage in various flood events across England. Results reveal that Environment Agency and British Insurers estimations are too optimistic and some vital aspects are often neglected. Indeed, the new estimates for England’s flooding costs for commercial and residential properties were found to be £1.6 Billion per year. While current English property damage costs represent only 0.1% of national (UK) and country (England) GDP, showing it to be inconsequential at either scale, it has considerable fiscal impact on local economies (County Councils) in both short and long term scenarios.