Social inequality and flood risk
Source: gov.uk (2025-04-04)

Flooding is a growing environmental threat across the UK, but not all communities experience its impacts equally.

Flood risk, inequalities and justice

Gordon Walker (https://www.lancaster.ac.uk/lec/about-us/people/gordon-walker) 1 and Peter Bailey 2

1 Lancaster Environment Centre, Lancaster University, United Kingdom

2 Environment Agency, United Kingdom

The Environment Agency commissioned research between 2006 and 2022 that explored the social distribution of environmental risks across England. The research found a link between social deprivation and flood vulnerability. The Environment Agency has used these findings to update its evidence base on the social distribution of flood risk and decision-making rules for investment.

Impact

Taken together, the research on social inequality and flood risk has influenced academic and policy understandings of not only inequalities in the distribution of flood risk, but also clear differentials in the vulnerabilities of households when flooding is experienced.

The first report Addressing environmental inequalities: flood risk (https://assets.publishing.service.gov.uk/media/5a7c365ced915d76e2ebbd58/scho0905bjok-e-e.pdf) led by Gordon Walker was published in 2006. This analysis demonstrated a clear inequality in that people living in deprived communities – as measured by the Index of Multiple Deprivation (https://www.gov.uk/government/collections/english-indices-of-deprivation) – were more likely to be at risk of flooding. The pattern of risk from coastal flooding was particularly skewed towards deprived communities, with river flooding more evenly distributed (Figure 1).

Figure 1: Total households at different levels of risk from river and sea flooding by deprivation decile within coastal areas. Credit: Environment Agency.

These findings shaped flood policies. In 2010 the Environment Agency’s corporate indicators for flooding included an outcome measure for flood schemes of homes better protected in deprived areas (Environment Agency, 2015). Then in 2011, the Government introduced a partnership funding policy for flooding (https://assets.publishing.service.gov.uk/media/5a7c89f1ed915d48c2410708/pb13896-flood-coastal-resilience-policy.pdf). This policy included an incentive that gave a higher rate of funding for schemes protecting homes in deprived areas from flooding (Defra, 2011).

Published in 2011, the article Flood risk, vulnerability and environmental justice: evidence and evaluation of inequality in a UK context (https://journals.sagepub.com/doi/abs/10.1177/xx-xxxx-xxxx) built upon the 2006 research. It explored the related issues of flood vulnerability and flood justice. The article has been widely cited, providing a foundation for similar analyses that have since been undertaken in the US and various European countries. It was also one of the first articles in the UK and internationally to bring flooding within an environmental justice framing.

In 2020, the Environment Agency updated the original 2006 analysis. It used the updated Index of Multiple Deprivation as well as the latest version of the National Flood Risk Assessment (NaFRA) (https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/national-assessment-of-flood-and-coastal-erosion-risk-in-england-2024/national-assessment-of-flood-and-coastal-erosion-risk-in-england-2024). This version of NaFRA addressed some of the shortcomings of the 2006 analysis such as including the benefit of flood defence schemes in the flood risk exposure data. The report was published in 2022 in Social deprivation and the likelihood of flooding (https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/social-deprivation-and-the-likelihood-of-flooding). The updated analysis still found evidence of flood inequalities in England.

The findings included:
- the size of the inequality was smaller than the 2006 study, because national flood data included flood defences and many schemes were built since 2006
- deprived coastal communities still experienced significant flood inequalities
- flood inequalities found within rural areas were greater than those in urban areas
- the analysis suggested that recent investment has been relatively successful in reducing flood risk exposure inequality for the 20% most deprived areas in England
The updated analysis and the 2022 report have been used by the National Audit Office in Managing flood risk: Report by the Comptroller and Auditor General (https://www.nao.org.uk/reports/managing-flood-risk/#downloads).

Resources

Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (Defra). (2011). Flood and Coastal Resilience Partnership Funding. London: Defra. Available at: https://assets.publishing.service.gov.uk/media/5a7c89f1ed915d48c2410708/pb13896-flood-coastal-resilience-policy.pdf (Accessed: 24 March 2025).

Environment Agency. (2006). Addressing Environmental Inequalities: Flood Risk. Science Report: SC020061/SR1. Available at: https://assets.publishing.service.gov.uk/media/5a7c365ced915d76e2ebbd58/scho0905bjok-e-e.pdf (Accessed: 24 March 2025).

Environment Agency. (2015). Flood and coastal erosion risk management Outcome Measures. Progress made towards achieving the Flood And Coastal Erosion Risk Management Outcome Measures target: July 2014 to September 2014. Available at: https://www.gov.uk/government/statistics/flood-and-coastal-erosion-risk-management-outcome-measures (Accessed: 24 March 2025).

Environment Agency. (2022). Social deprivation and the likelihood of flooding. Available at: https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/social-deprivation-and-the-likelihood-of-flooding (Accessed: 24 March 2025).

Environment Agency. (2024). National assessment of flood and coastal erosion risk in England 2024. Available at: https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/national-assessment-of-flood-and-coastal-erosion-risk-in-england-2024/national-assessment-of-flood-and-coastal-erosion-risk-in-england-2024 (Accessed: 24 March 2025).

Ministry of Housing and Local Government. (2020). English indices of deprivation. Available at: https://www.gov.uk/government/collections/english-indices-of-deprivation (Accessed: 24 March 2025).

National Audit Office (NAO). (2020). Managing flood risk - NAO report. Available at: https://www.nao.org.uk/reports/managing-flood-risk/?nab=2 - downloads (https://www.nao.org.uk/reports/managing-flood-risk/?nab=2%20-%20downloads) (Accessed: 24 March 2025).

Walker, G. and Burningham, K. (2011). Flood risk, vulnerability and environmental justice: Evidence and evaluation of inequality in a UK context. Critical Social Policy Volume 31, Issue 2, pp. 216–240. Available at: doi.org/10.1177/xx-xxxx-xxxx (https://doi.org/10.1177/xx-xxxx-xxxx) (Accessed: 24 March 2025).

Funder
- Environment Agency
Research period
- 2006 to 2022
Impact period
- 2006 to present
Impact country
- UK
Contributing to the areas of research interest
- 8 - Integrated outcomes