Flooding advice and information

Residential flooding grants

Funding support is available for residents who were significantly flooded between 2 and 12 January 2024.
Severely flood impacted households can apply for up to £500 cash to help with costs and they could be eligible for 100% council tax relief for at least three months. To be eligible to apply, one of the two criteria below must be met:

1. Flood water entered the habitable part of your main residential property or the operational areas of your business.

This includes Park Homes, Houseboats and other main residential properties. Habitable areas include; porches, basements, voids under main living spaces, garages that are part of and can be accessed from the inside of your property. It does not include separate garages, outbuildings, holiday homes etc.

2. Flood water did not enter into habitable areas, but the local authority regards that the residence or business was otherwise considered unliveable/inoperable for period of 48 hours or more*.

Instances where properties might be considered unliveable could include:

• where access to the property is severely restricted (e.g. upper floor flats with no access)
• key services such as sewerage, water and power supplies are severely affected.
• properties affected by sewage flooding meaning it was unsafe to use. ie sewage in the living space, garden and sub-flood void
• where there was significant damage to the property such that residents were advised for to vacate the premises for a period of time, regardless of whether they did vacate or not.
• HMO Eligibility of houses in multiple occupation (HMOs), flats and student accommodation:
  • HMOs should be considered “one front door” except where they are disaggregated for council tax purposes, in which case, each individual bill recipient will be eligible to receive the £500 community recovery grant provided they meet the criteria.
  • blocks of flats should be treated under the same principles as HMOs.
  • student accommodation is not eligible.

Flooded gardens, outbuildings or garages will not usually render a household eligible, but there may be exceptions where it could be demonstrated that such instances mean effectively that the property is unliveable.

*Only properties flooded internally are eligible for the Property Flood Resilience Grant.

Evidence

Reigate and Banstead Borough Council will require evidence of the flood impact to ensure you are eligible. This could include:

• Photos/videos (with electronic time/date stamps)
• Statement of impact from resident/landowner/business owner
• List of stock/furniture/equipment affected
• Council or utility company call reference number(s) if reported.
• Insurance Company reference (if applicable)
• Other proof of impacts e.g. access, utilities restrictions

The information you provide may be checked against the records that are held by the other authorities.

Property Flood Resilience Scheme

Eligible flood-hit property owners can apply for up to £5,000 to help make homes and businesses more resilient to future flooding. To apply for this grant, please see Surrey County Council's website.

Deadline

The deadline for applications has now passed.

Business Flooding Grants

Funding support is available for businesses who were significantly flooded between 2 and 12 January 2024. Businesses could be eligible for 100% business rates relief for at least three months. Impacted small-to-medium sized businesses can apply for up to £2,500 from the Business Recovery Grant to help return quickly to business as usual. The qualifying criteria are listed below:

The business premises has been flooded in whole or in part internally as a result of Storm Henk. For example: internal areas which are critical to the day-to-day operations (i.e. not storage sheds or warehouses) have been damaged, necessitating drying out and/or repairs to the fabric of the building, occurring as a result of flooding.

• you are unable to trade for a period of time due to flood damage to your business premises
• you can only make one claim per property affected
• empty business premises do not qualify for this discount

Evidence

Reigate and Banstead Borough Council will require evidence of the flood impact to ensure you are eligible. This could include:

• Photos/videos (with electronic time/date stamps)
• Statement of impact from resident/landowner/business owner
• List of stock/furniture/equipment affected
• Council or utility company call reference number(s) if reported.
• Insurance Company reference (if applicable)
• Other proof of impacts e.g. access, utilities restrictions

The information you provide may be checked against the records that are held by the other authorities.

Deadline

The deadline for applications has now passed.

Privacy Notice

Reigate and Banstead Borough Council will hold onto your information in case the grants process is audited. We also must share the information with the Government Department which provides the grant funding. Unless stated otherwise your data will only be used to administer, check and pay the grants, and support activities to reduce future flood risk. We will never share your details with third parties without your permission, including insurance companies.

Further information please read through the Privacy Notice.