£1 million of additional funds have been allocated by the County Council to help residents who have been flooded recently.
The Property Flood Resilience (PFR) Scheme is a delivery of the pledge made earlier in the year by Cllr Colin Davie that help would be given to those affected by extremes of seasonal weather.
The money will be spent on helping residents to install property flood resilience measures such as flood barriers to doors and passive resistant airbricks.
The scheme will be for those households where the living space has flooded in recent storms. Any money left over after those properties have been helped will then go to other properties that were not able to apply to the Government-led scheme which was set up following Storm Henk in January 2024.
Each eligible household can be awarded up to £5,000 to carry out these flood resistance works and Lincolnshire County Council officers will be writing to eligible households in the next few weeks to liaise with property owners directly.
Cllr Davie, executive member for environment, planning and economic development, said: “I am delighted that we have been able to make this substantial sum of money available to support Lincolnshire residents who were most affected by the recent storms.
“We have worked hard to find this money to fund the scheme, and we will make every penny of it count in the real world.
“Our flood officers will get in touch with everyone who reported having had water inundation into their homes recently, and from there we can put in place very real measures to help their property become more flood resistant.
“This is only a partial solution to the problem of the increasing regularity of floods. A lack of funding from central Government to the Environment Agency, and other stakeholders, means that we need a long-term discussion about how areas such as Lincolnshire can be best supported to keep properties and businesses safe from water inundation.
“The PFR scheme is an on-the-ground attempt by ourselves to bring about improvement for the people of Lincolnshire in the short term.”
Image credit: Stock.adobe.com/Stockfotos-MG 
North East Lincolnshire Council are to help renovate up to 60 homes on a Grimsby street.
Rutland Street, on the East Marsh, has been identified as the location for the new scheme following a borough wide assessment. The initiative, known as retrofitting, will look to provide improved energy efficiency, better living conditions and other upgrades such as external wall insulation to the houses.
Should it be deemed a success, further funding may be sought to beautify and green up the external areas of the street with new fencing and greenery with potential for community-led tree planting.
In Summer 2024, the Council was awarded £3.1 million by Government to carry out the pilot project to help improve house valuation and encourage investment in the area with plans now approved by cabinet.
An initial phase of surveys will be undertaken before the final stage of works is sanctioned.
A similar scheme was implemented in Guildford Street in 2017, just 200m away from Rutland Street. Both roads were built in the same era and comprise of similar housing types, but house prices are now significantly higher on Guilford Street, partially due to the retrofitting programme.
Additionally, the number of homeowners and tenants leaving the street has lessened since the project was completed, creating a more stable community.
Councillor Stewart Swinburn, Portfolio Holder for Housing, Infrastructure and Transport, said: “These visual and structural improvements to homes will inject a sense of community pride, reduce anti-social behaviour and promote safety, well-being and a more cohesive neighbourhood.
“The houses will also benefit greatly from the scheme with the potential for improved energy efficiency and better living conditions.”
Councillor Stan Shreeve, Portfolio Holder for Adult Public Health and Wellbeing, added: “Projects like this also pay dividends to people’s mental and physical health. Good homes are proven to help reduce respiratory issues and improved energy efficiency will ease worries about bills and spending.”
The project will be delivered by North East Lincolnshire Council, community groups like East Marsh United – who already run a similar project on the ward – and other partners.
