How to find out if your house is in a flood zone (England)
Three ways to check whether your property is in Flood Zone 2 or 3 in England, what the flood zones mean, and how they affect insurance, mortgages and planning. Wales and Scotland use different maps.
Checking a specific site?
Check a site free: your council, whether you are in a conservation area, and a basic flood check. The £9.99 site report covers everything else we can check.
Postcode, address or grid reference. England, Wales and Scotland. Free check, then the site report is £9.99, one-off.
Flooding is one of the biggest risks to property. If your house is in Flood Zone 2 or 3 in England, it can affect your insurance premiums, your mortgage options and what you are allowed to build. Here is how to check, and what to do about it.
Flood Zones 1, 2 and 3 are an English system. In Wales the map is the Flood Map for Planning under TAN15, and in Scotland SEPA publishes high, medium and low flood likelihood, with no Flood Zone 2 or 3. Flood zones explained covers all three nations.
Method 1: Check the site with Planning Constraints
Check a site free gives a basic river and sea flood check for the address, without numbered zones or probability bands, along with the council and whether it is in a conservation area. The site report (£9.99, one-off) adds the detailed flood findings with the source for each, and everything else we can check within 500 m of your pin, for 30 days. The report link never expires.
- Open the site checker
- Search for your postcode or address
- Review the free flood check
- Open the site report if you want the flood classification, boundaries and source
Where our England flood zones come from. Our site checker reads Flood Zones 2 and 3 for England from the Environment Agency Flood Map for Planning, the edition published on 25 March 2025 (revised May 2026). For a decision that matters, compare it with the Environment Agency's own map (Method 2). A missing result, a source that couldn't be checked, or a clear result does not establish that a site is in Flood Zone 1.
We show what we found, what came back clear, and where a source couldn't be checked. Some councils don't publish every dataset, so ask the council where it matters.
Method 2: The Environment Agency flood map
The Environment Agency maintains the official Flood Map for Planning. Enter your postcode and it shows the Flood Zone 2 and 3 boundaries, and a "Flood Zones plus climate change" layer that shows how those zones may grow.
For a broader picture that includes surface water flood risk, which is separate from river and sea flood zones, use the Check your long-term flood risk service. It shows risk from rivers, the sea, surface water and reservoirs together.
Method 3: Searches during a purchase, or an insurance quote
If you are buying, your solicitor will order a local authority search and usually an environmental search after your offer is accepted. Flood risk is covered in the environmental search. They may also commission a specific flood report from a provider. Planning Constraints is not an official search.
Another informal test is to get insurance quotes before you offer. If flood cover is expensive or hard to get, that is a strong signal the property is higher risk.
What do the flood zones mean?
The Environment Agency classifies land into three zones based on the probability of flooding from rivers and the sea. The zones ignore the benefit of flood defences, so they show the underlying risk.
Flood Zone 1: low probability
Less than a 0.1% (1 in 1,000) chance of flooding in any year. Most of England is in Flood Zone 1 and there are very few flood-related planning restrictions.
Flood Zone 2: medium probability
Between a 0.1% and 1% annual chance of river flooding, or between 0.1% and 0.5% of sea flooding. A site-specific flood risk assessment is needed for any development, and the council may apply the Sequential Test, which asks whether the development could go somewhere at lower risk. The Sequential Test does not apply to householder development, so an ordinary house extension does not need to prove there is a better site.
Flood Zone 3: high probability
A 1% or greater annual chance of river flooding, or 0.5% or greater of sea flooding. Development faces strict requirements, including the Sequential Test and often the Exception Test. Land in Flood Zone 3b is the "functional floodplain", where only water-compatible development is normally permitted.
How flood zones affect you as a homeowner
Insurance
Properties in Flood Zone 3 often face higher premiums. The Flood Re scheme caps flood insurance costs for eligible homes, but only homes built before 1 January 2009 qualify. Newer homes in high-risk areas may struggle to get affordable cover.
Mortgages
Some lenders are cautious about homes in Flood Zone 3 and may ask for evidence of insurance before approving a mortgage. In extreme cases they may decline.
Extensions and building work
If you extend or alter a property in Flood Zone 2 or 3, you need a flood risk assessment. For a householder extension, or a non-domestic extension of up to 250 square metres, the Environment Agency's standing advice sets out what it must cover, including finished floor levels at least 600 mm above the estimated flood level, or extra flood resistance and resilience measures where that is not possible. You may need to include flood mitigation:
- Raising finished floor levels above the predicted flood level
- Using flood-resilient materials, such as tiled floors rather than carpet
- Fitting flood barriers to doors and airbricks
- Placing electrical sockets above the predicted flood level
Property value
Flooding can affect what a property is worth, but the effect depends on the site, its defences and its history. A property with good defences and insurance may be less affected. Ask your surveyor and insurer.
Don't forget surface water
Flood zones only cover river and sea flooding. Surface water flooding, caused by heavy rain overwhelming drains, is a separate risk. Some properties in Flood Zone 1 have significant surface water flood risk. Check the Environment Agency's long-term flood risk service for a complete picture.
Summary
Three ways to check your flood zone in England:
- Site report: check a site free for a basic flood check, then open the £9.99 site report for the classification and source
- Official source: the Environment Agency's Flood Map for Planning, which is the current edition
- During a purchase: the environmental search your solicitor orders, or an insurance quote
If you are in Flood Zone 2 or 3, it does not mean you cannot live there or improve the property. You need to factor flood risk into your plans, your insurance and any building work.
Sources
- NPPF Annex F: managing flood risk and coastal change, for zone definitions and the point that zones ignore flood defences
- NPPF chapter 18, policy F5, for the Sequential Test and its exclusion of householder development
- GOV.UK: new national flood and coastal erosion risk information, for the March 2025 rebuild
- Environment Agency: Flood Map for Planning (Flood Zones), the dataset we read for England, with its publication and revision dates
Check the site before your solicitor orders searches.
Searches are usually ordered after your offer is accepted. Check a site free first for your council, conservation area status and a basic flood check. The site report (£9.99, one-off) adds everything else we can check within 500 m of your pin, for 30 days.
We show what we found, what came back clear, and where a source couldn’t be checked. Some councils don’t publish every dataset, so ask the council where it matters. Planning Constraints is a screening tool, not an official local authority search or professional advice.