Community Flood Recovery Grant and Council Tax discount scheme - Grants

The deadline for applications was 5pm on Friday 15 March 2024.

The Government is offering financial support to help households, businesses and farmers recover from the flooding caused by Storm Henk between 2 January and 12 January 2024.

To provide financial support to help households recover from the flooding caused by Storm Henk between 2 January and 12 January 2024.

The funding is available if as a result of Storm Henk, flood water:

• Entered the internal habitable areas of your property, or
• Did not enter internal habitable areas but your property was unliveable for more than 48 hours

Qualifying criteria

• The property you are applying for must be your primary residence (the location registered on the electoral roll, including accommodation such as static caravans, where this is the primary residence).
• Second or empty homes are not eligible.
• Student accommodation is not eligible.
• Internal habitable areas are those areas that form part of the fabric of the home. For example, an empty, rarely used basement would not be considered part of the habitable area whereas a converted basement used frequently might be.
• A residence is considered unliveable if you were advised to vacate the property for more than 48 hours (regardless of whether you did or not). Other exceptions could include:
  • Access to the property was severely restricted (for example. upper floor flats with no access);
  • Key services such as sewerage, water and power supplies were severely affected
  • The adverse weather has resulted in other significant damage to the property such that it would be or would have been advisable for residents to vacate the premises for a period of time, regardless of whether they do vacate or not
• Flooding to gardens, garages or outbuildings will not usually render a household eligible to support, unless the flooding causes wider impacts on liveability, e.g. immerse septic tank, flooded external boilers 

• Houses in multiple occupation (HMOs) should be considered ‘one front door’ except where they are disaggregated for council tax purposes, in which case, each individual bill recipient will be eligible to receive the £500 community recovery grant provided they meet the criteria.
• Blocks of flats will be treated under the same principles as HMO.

You may also be eligible for a 100% discount on your Council Tax for at least 3 months. This is if your property meets the Qualifying criteria above, or longer if you are unable to return to the property.

If you are unable to return home, you may also be eligible for a 100% discount on Council Tax for your temporary accommodation. This is in parallel with the discount on your primary home.

• Second or empty homes are not eligible.
• Student accommodation is not eligible.

The grant is to help with immediate recovery costs.

You may be able to get up to £500 to help with immediate costs if your home was flooded. To be eligible, flood water must have entered the internal habitable areas of your home or made it unliveable.

You may also be eligible for a 100% discount on your Council Tax for at least 3 months. This is if your property meets the Qualifying criteria above, or longer if you are unable to return to the property.

If you are unable to return home, you may also be eligible for a 100% discount on Council Tax for your temporary accommodation. This is in parallel with the discount on your primary home.

Applications for this grant are now closed.

• Procedures are in place to prevent fraudulent claims being made.
• The decision of the grant panel is final and it reserves the right to reject an application.
• The deadline for applications was 5pm on Friday 15 March 2024.

We will assess the information you provide on the application and will be back in touch as soon as possible.

Further guidance can be found in the Government’s Flood Recovery Framework Guide.

Please email floodrisk@herefordshire.gov.uk if you have any queries.