The figures show that there were around 310 new homes created in the flood zone between 2015 and 2018 meaning new builds as well as existing buildings that have been converted into homes.

The 34% of new homes built in the flood zone in Spelthorne was the highest proportion for any area in Surrey.

It was also up from just 1% of new homes created in the area between 2013 and 2015.

New homes in Flood Zone 3

Runnymede had the second highest proportion of new homes built in the flood zone in Surrey, at 10% between 2015 and 2018, compared to 7% between 2013 and 2015.

Across England, one in 11 new homes created in 2017/18 alone were in Flood Zone 3, according to the figures from the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government.

That’s around 20,887 homes.

The proportion of new homes being created in the flood zone was down from 11% in 2016/17, but generally the proportion seems to be trending upwards - having risen from 7% in 2013/14.

Since figures began in 2013/14, there have been around 85,000 new homes created in Flood Zone 3.

The Environment Agency defines three different flood zones, according to risk.

Zone 1 is reserved for areas where there is a less than 0.1% chance of flooding in any given year, and development there is largely unrestricted.

Zone 2 is for places with a risk of between 0.1% and 1%, and developments there need to be risk-assessed, if alternative sites can’t be found.

Development is more tightly controlled still in Zone 3.

In Boston, Lincolnshire, 92% of news homes between 2015 and 2018 were in Flood Zone 3, the highest proportion in England, while the proportion stood at 88% in Hull, and 87% in East Lindsey, which is also in Lincolnshire.

Source - https://www.getsurrey.co.uk/news/surrey-news/one-three-new-surrey-homes-17792618