Perth & Kinross Council Property Flood Resilience Grant

Perth and Kinross Council · 27 May 2026
Back to Climate Change and Sustainability Committee — 27 May 2026 and its agenda

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Our vision is a Perth and Kinross where everyone can live life well,
free from poverty and inequality 
___________________________________________________________________  
Committee or Board: Climate Change and Sustainability 
Date of Meeting: 27 May 2026 
Report Title: Perth & Kinross Council Property Flood Resilience
Grant 
Report Number: 26/148 
Report Author: Dr Rick Haynes, Flooding Manager 
Organisational Lead: Fraser Crofts, Strategic Lead – Environment &
Infrastructure
___________________________________________________________________
1. Purpose 
1.1 The purpose of this Report is to seek approval to implement the Property
Flood Resilience Grant (PFRG) process to support properties at risk of
flooding. 
1.2 Sections 
1. Purpose
2. Recommendation(s)
3. Background/Context
4. Main Issues
5. Proposals
6. Conclusion
7. Impact Value Assessment
8. Appendices
2. Recommendation(s) 
It is recommended that the Committee: 
2.1 Approve the implementation of the Property Flood Resilience Grant process
as detailed in Section 5 (and Appendix 1) which affords up to £5,000 per
private property / business for the assessed installation of property flood
resilience measures.

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3. Background/Context 
3.1  On the December 2021 Councillors unanimously backed the Draft Climate
Change Strategy and Action Plan, which sets out how Perth and Kinross will
reach net zero carbon emissions by 2045. 
3.2 The Strategy is guided by the following principles: 
• Achieving Net Zero aligned with the Paris Agreement and Scottish
Government targets by 2045, if not before.
• Building a more resilient Perth and Kinross.
• Ensuring climate change action is fair and the transition to a green
economy benefits all.
• Enhancing biodiversity.
• Engaging young people and empowering them to take action against
climate change.
• Empowering businesses and communities to take climate action in line
with the Perth and Kinross Offer. 
3.3 In recent years, the Perth and Kinross area has experienced a number of
extreme weather events. In the past four years, there have been over 1,000
reports of flooding to properties, businesses and roads. 
3.4 Flood risk management in Scotland is a shared responsibility. While
responsible authorities work together to reduce overall flood risk through
strategic planning, investment and maintenance, individuals and communities
remain the first line of defence against flooding. Local Flood Risk
Management Plans therefore place strong emphasis on self‑help, awareness
raising and community resilience, recognising that informed and prepared
households are essential to reducing the impacts of flooding now and in the
future. 
3.5 This is also in line with the ‘National Flood Resilience Strategy’1 published by
Scottish Government in December 2024. Specific note should be made of the
vision of the Strategy that is ‘Our people and places are prepared for
increased flooding and we are adapting to a changing climate and creating
sustainable resilient places in ways that are inclusive and fair.’ 
3.6 On 04 March 2026, as part of the FY2026-27 budget setting process
(document 26/54 refers2), Amendment was made to introduce a £150,000
non-recurring fund to support the provision of flood prevention measures at a
property scale. 
3.7 In developing the Grant funding approach, consideration has been given to
the most appropriate process, the level of Grant award, the level of flood risk
to an area and the Grant application process. 
1 National Flood Resilience Strategy
2 Document 26/54

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4. Main Issues 
4.1 There is a well-known challenge within the Flood Risk Management
professional community that delivery of large-scale Flood Protection Scheme
is difficult, both in term of securing funding and also the timelines from
concept to construction completion. The community-scale funding support for
Resilience Groups is expected to add another layer of flood protection
capability, either where Flood Protection Schemes are not achievable, or to
supplement them. 
4.2 The Property Flood Resilience Grant (PFRG) will add yet one more layer of
protection and allow property owners access to materials that may have been
unaffordable in the past. This supports all five aspects of the Perth and
Kinross Council Vision, but specifically that which seeks to ensure that
communities are resilient. Is also supports a number of the seven Priorities. 
4.3 A visual representation of this complementary approach would be as follows: 
5 Proposals 
5.1 Based on feedback from other local authorities over the different models
available (e.g. bulk purchase and re-sale of material, site specific purchase of
materials or lump sum grants for flexible usage), Perth and Kinross Council
has chosen to provide a monetary PFRG to applicants for purchase and
installation of property specific flood resilience measures. 
5.2 The proposals here are expected to complement the existing community-
group scale approach managed by the Perth and Kinross Council Civil
Contingencies Team as approved at the Finance and Resources Committee
on 22 November 2023 – Report 23/3153. 
3 https://tinyurl.com/23-315-Minutes
Property Flood
Resilience
Measures
Community Group
Scale Flood
Resilience
Measures
Flood Protection
Schemes

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The Community Group Scale Grant programme is expected to enable groups
to access funds to purchase flood resilience materials such as demountable
barriers, sandbags, signage etc. It will also be used to enable training to be
delivered to Council officers to better support community groups. 
5.3 The principle of this Community Group Scale Grant programme is embedded
within the Improvement Actions noted in Report 23/232, which is the main
report submitted to Scrutiny and Performance Committee on 22 November
20234. 
5.4 Perth and Kinross Council’s proposed PFRG model will be underpinned by
the CIRIA C790 Code of Practice for Property Flood Resilience, which
provides the UK’s recognised benchmark standards for the assessment,
design, installation, and maintenance of PFR measures that both to resist
floodwater entry and to reduce damage if flooding occurs - to minimise the
impact of flooding on people, property, and recovery time. The Code of
Practice (CoP) sets out a structured, evidence-based approach that enables
households and businesses to reduce flood damage, accelerate recovery,
and increase long-term resilience. 
5.5 The outline PFRG process is summarised below and in Appendix 8.1: 
a) Applicants contact Perth and Kinross Council via phone, email, web or
letter to commence application process. 
b) Applicants, with assistance from Perth and Kinross Council, complete
and submit an application5, including supporting information consisting
of:
• Property flood history and risk of flooding. 
• Scottish Flood Forum (or approved other) property assessment
report 
• Works quotation
• Completed application, including signed terms and conditions. 
c) Perth and Kinross Council assess the application and notify applicant of
level of funding award. 
d) Perth and Kinross Council issue the applicant with the funding award (up
to £5,000).
e) Perth and Kinross Council inspect the completed works to ensure
compliance (see section 5.20 for detail). 
5.6 As part of the process noted above, the applicant will be encouraged to
contact the Scottish Flood Forum to request a property flood assessment
report or fund a suitably qualified inspector to assess the property. They can
then take this to a contractor to provide a quotation for the works.
Alternatively, they can cost the works themselves with supporting evidence,
for example, quotations for materials. This should then be provided to Perth
and Kinross Council in support of their application to determine the level of
PFRG funding. 
4 https://tinyurl.com/23-232-Report
5 See Appendix 8.3

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5.6 The Scottish Flood Forum is an independent charitable organisation funded
by the Scottish Government to support individuals and communities at risk to
or affected by flooding. They offer support mechanisms and advice which
includes site-specific property assessments, informing the property owner of
the most appropriate measures to implement and minimise the risk of
flooding. The Flooding Team has consulted with the Scottish Flood Forum to
ensure a consistent approach for applicants. 
5.7 In section 5.6(c) above, the Council will assess the application in terms of
completeness of supporting information provided. Should insufficient
information be provided to justify the award of a PFRG amount, the Council
will seek to clarify with the applicant such that the award of a PFRG can be
defended. Should an applicant not provide suitable or sufficient information,
the application will be rejected. 
5.8 To ensure the public are made aware of the PFRG, communications are being
developed through the Customer and Digital Services Portfolio. This will be
through an awareness raising campaign via social media and newspaper
outlets, with contact methods included. Further updates will be provided to
members as these aspects progress. 
5.9 The level of PFRG per household was determined using the online Scottish
Flood Forum Property Protection Advisor Tool. This identified £5,000 as a
suitable PFRG cap amount to support property owners in purchasing the
necessary flood protection equipment. Depending on the approach taken by
the applicant, this would mean the Council covering between 53% and 72% of
the costs. The results are presented in Appendix 8.2. That being said,
feedback from Fife Council noted that despite using the same £5,000 cap, and
assessment tools, the average PFRG award sat at just under £3,400,
resulting in both total funding to the applicant, and the ability to assist more
applicants with the surplus. 
5.10 It is proposed that the PFRG funding is available to both private property and
business owners. 
5.11 Perth and Kinross Council Housing and Communities Portfolio are in the
process of protecting council owned rental properties. Consequently, Perth
and Kinross Council properties are excluded from the PFRG process. If a
Perth and Kinross Council property is physically connected to a privately
owned property, these will be assessed on a case-by-case basis to seek
equitable outcomes. 
5.12 Should the assessment indicate costs in excess of the £5,000 PFRG award,
the property owner will be required to fund any further cost. 
5.13 Once the quantum of the PFRG has been agreed, and the necessary
supporting information provided, the PFRG funds will be issued to the
applicant in advance of the individual applicant’s works being progressed.

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5.14 The PFRG will be distributed on a first come first served basis and will not be
issued to properties claiming for existing Property Flood Resilience Measures
such as via the Community Group Scale Grant. 
5.15 In the event that multiple conjoined properties (whether all privately owned or
private / public mix) seek an application to cover all properties, a bespoke
exercise will need to be undertaken to assess the complete structure and a
unanimous agreement from all parties will be needed before the application
can be progressed. This agreement must be evidenced to the Council by the
applicant(s) as part of the application process.  
5.16 It is anticipated that the time to complete the PFRG and receive the PFRG will
be approximately four weeks. This is however subject to change for properties
that require Planning based determinations regarding Planning Permission
(Conservation Areas) and/or Listed Building Consent. These delays may
occur when specific materials and finishes require approval to comply with
built heritage constraints; some ‘mainstream’ materials may not be acceptable
in these situations. In such instances, the Council will look to work with the
applicant to set aside the PFRG fund for a reasonable period of time to allow
permissions to be agreed. The applicant may use the PFRG to appoint 3rd
parties to assist in the above application/s process, but the maximum grant
award will remain at £5,000. 
5.17 The expectation is that the property flood resilience measures will be installed
within a calendar year of the award of the PFRG amount, and by the
‘Completion Date’ as agreed between the Council and the applicant. 
5.18 The Council will not however be undertaking an inspection to approve the
quality of the works; that will be a matter agreed between the applicant and
their installation contractor. The Council will be undertaking an inspection to
confirm the installation of PFR materials per the original application and
associated documents. 
5.19 In the event the works have not been undertaken per the application and/or by
the agreed ‘Completion Date’, Perth and Kinross Council shall be entitled
within 21 days of demand to recover the PFRG or such amount of the PFRG
as Perth and Kinross Council deems appropriate. Agreements to amend the
works and/or ‘Completion Date’ will be considered on a case-by-case. The
aim is to progress efficiently to use the PFRG to increase property resilience
and not to enter protracted discussions. 
5.20 Resourcing for the delivery of the PFRG will be from the existing Flooding
Team, supported by AI / Digital tools to automate information flows where
possible. Assessment of application bundles will be managed by Engineers
and Technicians, and on-site corroboration of installations will be undertaken
by Watercourse Inspectors, all from the Flooding Team.

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5.21 Consultation with other Services has concluded as follows 
- Legal: No initial issues with proposals and committed to work with
Flooding Team to deliver the PFRG.
- Finance: No initial issues with proposals and committed to work with
Flooding Team to deliver the PFRG.
- Insurance: No initial issues with proposals.
- Procurement: No initial issues with proposals.
- Planning: No initial issues with proposals though commented on
challenges associated with Listed Building Consents and Planning
Permissions in Conservation Areas. They are, however, committed to
work with Flooding Team to deliver the PFRG.
6 Conclusion 
6.1 The £150,000 in PFRG funding offers property and business owners equitable
access to a PFRG of up to £5,000 per property, reaching a minimum of 30
properties across Perth and Kinross. 
6.2 The PFRG measures will help protect individual properties and businesses
from the effects of flooding.
7. Impact Value Assessment 
IVA: Impact and Value Assessment 
DPIA: Completed and signed off by DPO
EFIA: Completed and submitted
8. Appendices 
8.1 Property Flood Protection Grant process 
8.2 Average Household Cost 
8.3 Example Application Form