Communities minister Baroness Andrews told Liberal Democrat communities spokesman Lord Greaves that it is “important to remember that the first stage of ensuring that new development takes flooding into consideration is through the planning process.” Currently official guidance is set out in planning policy statement 25, Development and Flood Risk, published in December last year.

Additionally, consideration of the “need to bring various aspects of flood resilience into building regulation and the most appropriate time to do this will need to take account of Sir Michael Pitt’s independent review of the effects of the summer floods and lessons learnt.” She added that is the point at which we will be able to judge the need for a formal review on this issue and identify next steps.
Source: Lords Hansard, 18 October: Column WA65