Devon County Council is committed to increasing community resilience in Devon. We are supported by DEFRA to deliver property flood resilience (PFR) measures.
Working closely with a number of partners, we aim to help individual property owners be better equipped with the tools and basic defence measures they need to be able to deal with flooding.
A PFR funding scheme has been established to enable homeowners to apply for up to £5,000 to carry out a property survey identifying the required resilience measures and to purchase the recommended measures. Any additional budget requirements will be at the expense of the property owner unless specified otherwise. Testimonials from residents who have installed PFR can be found on the BeFloodReady YouTube Channel.
The Be Flood Ready web pages are also a really useful resource to find out about PFR measures and what you can do to help make your home more resilient.
There is limited funding, with an allocation made available each year by DEFRA, Local Levy and Devon County Council. Applications will, therefore, be prioritised based on fixed criteria as set out in the PFR Funding Policy document. This is in order to maximise the number of properties benefiting from this opportunity and to ensure those properties with the greatest need will receive the funding.
If you believe you are eligible to apply for the funding, as detailed in the policy, you must first complete an Application form (also available in PDF format). Completed application forms should be submitted via email to floodrisk@devon.gov.uk or posted to Flood & Coastal Risk Management, Room 120, County Hall, Topsham Road, Exeter EX2 4QD in order for your application to be considered.
We recommend anyone looking to make an application to also consider signing up for flood warnings from the Environment Agency.
See our PFR process for more information about how the full process works.
Important things to note:
- It is the responsibility of residential property owners to protect their home from flooding, this funding scheme aims to assist them.
- Funding will be allocated subject to the number and priority of applications received. Meeting the required criteria does not guarantee funding.
- All funding payments will be made to the survey consultant and product supplier for the specific individual property. The product supplier must be agreed with DCC prior to works. No funding will be paid direct to the property owner or their representative/agent. You will not be expected to pay any portion of DCC’s funding in advance for the works/products, if requested by the supplier.
- No retrospective payments will be made for PFR arranged outside of this scheme without prior approval by DCC.
- This initiative is subject to minor amendments as the scheme matures.
- When allocations are approved and confirmed our decision is final.
- The funding is for delivering PFR measures and for the vast majority of properties there are PFR options that a homeowner can take that do not require planning permission. For sensitive sites (i.e. listed buildings) where there are no alternatives we will consider, on a case by case basis, the appropriateness of using some of the funding on the cost of a planning application and initial documentation. Where this exceeds the current funding limit this may require the property owner to cover the additional costs, as per the criteria of this funding initiative.
- The Property Flood Resilience (PFR) Funding Scheme was previously known as the Property Level Resilience (PLR) Grant Scheme.
Last updated: August 2022