The Government and Flood Re have announced a new Flood Performance Certificate (FPC) scheme for England, designed to give homeowners standardised information about flood risk and what protection measures are in place at their property. The announcement was reported by Homebuilding & Renovating.
The scheme is modelled on Energy Performance Certificates (EPCs). Just as an EPC tells a buyer how energy-efficient a home is, an FPC will set out a property’s flood exposure, the resilience measures already fitted, and recommendations for further steps a homeowner could take.
What an FPC will show
According to the Government, the certificates will pilot a ‘Flood Performance Rating’ that breaks a property’s flood risk into categories covering exposure, characteristics and resistance. That information will draw on data already available through the Government’s ‘Check Your Flood Risk’ service, which covers risks from rivers and surface water.
As with EPCs, FPCs will also include practical recommendations. The Government lists examples such as flood barriers, self-closing air bricks and flood-resilient kitchen fittings as the kind of measures that could be suggested to reduce risk at a specific property.
Pilot timetable and insurance links
Flood Re, a joint initiative between the Government and the insurance industry that exists to make home and contents insurance more affordable in high-risk areas, will lead the pilots. The scheme is being tested in vulnerable areas first.
As Water Magazine reported in October 2026, initial pilots are beginning in 2026, with further trials planned throughout 2027 and beyond. A Flood Re representative was quoted saying: ‘We’ll begin piloting FPCs in 2026, with a focus on what helps householders to understand their risk and take action. Over time, we want resilience improvements to be recognised and rewarded, helping create a future where access to affordable insurance increasingly reflects the actions people take to protect their homes.’
The groundwork for the scheme has been in progress for some time. According to Unda, which tracks the FPC roadmap in detail, a scoring model developed with Middlesex University’s Flood Hazard Research Centre completed its first phase in a pilot area in Kent in 2024. Unda also reported, as of July 2026, that Flood Re aims to link the certificates to discounted insurance premiums from 2028, though no timeline has been set for rolling the scheme out nationally, and whether certificates would ever become compulsory remains undecided.
The source story notes that the scheme could help homeowners in high-risk areas reduce insurance premiums and make their properties easier to sell and buy, alongside offering clearer information on the practical steps they can take to protect their homes before flood water arrives.