Five Trends Emerging from Flood & Coast 2026 – And What They Mean for Property Owners, Developers and Insurers
Recently, our Flood team lead Joel Read (Associate Director) from Ashfield Solutions made the journey from West Wales to Liverpool to attend another excellent Flood & Coast Conference. As one of the UK’s leading events for flood risk management and coastal resilience, Flood & Coast 2026 brought together flood risk consultants, insurers, local authorities, policymakers, manufacturers and resilience specialists to discuss the challenges and opportunities facing the sector.
The event featured conference sessions, industry exhibitions, practical demonstrations such as the Floodmobile, and the annual Excellence Awards dinner. More importantly, it provided an opportunity to hear first-hand about the latest developments in flood risk assessment, property flood resilience, insurance, planning and emerging technologies that are shaping the future of the industry.
While no single announcement at Flood & Coast 2026 changed everything overnight, several themes consistently emerged throughout the conference that are already beginning to influence the projects and conversations we’re seeing across the industry.
1. AI Will Support Flood Consultants – Not Replace Them
Artificial intelligence was one of the most talked-about subjects across the conference.
There’s no doubt AI has enormous potential to improve efficiency by automating repetitive tasks, summarising information and supporting report production. These are all areas where we expect to see significant change over the coming years.
However, flood risk assessment still relies heavily on professional judgement. Interpreting complex hydraulic model outputs, understanding site-specific flood mechanisms and applying experience to real-world developments remain specialist skills. Rather than replacing flood consultants, AI is likely to become another tool that allows us to spend more time solving the complex problems that matter most to clients.
2. Flood Resilience Is Becoming More Proactive
Historically, much of the industry’s focus has been on helping people recover after flooding.
Increasingly, the conversation is shifting towards preventing damage before it happens.
An excellent example discussed during the conference was the collaboration between Allianz UK and Ashfield Solutions to develop a new consumer flood report for customers who don’t qualify for Build Back Better funding. Rather than leaving those customers without support, the report provides practical, property-specific guidance on flood risk, resilience and potential next steps.
It’s encouraging to see insurers investing in helping customers become more resilient, rather than simply responding once a claim has occurred.
3. Flood Performance Certificates Continue to Gain Momentum
Flood Performance Certificates (FPCs), currently being trialled as a standardised rating of a property’s flood resilience, generated plenty of discussion throughout the conference.
As pilot projects continue to develop, there is growing interest in how FPCs could help property owners better understand flood risk and the benefits of resilience measures.
There was healthy debate around how such certificates might eventually be adopted, how consistency can be achieved across the industry and how they could provide meaningful information to homeowners, insurers, lenders and prospective buyers. While there are still important questions to answer, the direction of travel is becoming increasingly clear.
4. Collaboration Across the Industry Is More Important Than Ever
One of the biggest takeaways from Flood & Coast was just how much collaboration is taking place across the sector.
Whether it was insurers, contractors, consultants, manufacturers or organisations such as Flood Re, there was a common theme that improving flood resilience cannot be achieved by one organisation working in isolation.
Many of the most interesting conversations centered around identifying gaps in the market and how different organisations can work together to deliver practical solutions for property owners before, during and after flooding.
5. Temporary Flood Protection Is Becoming Increasingly Important
Another interesting topic was the growing use of temporary property flood resilience measures, particularly for insurers.
New approaches are emerging that combine flood forecasting, digital technology and rapid deployment of temporary protection to help reduce flood damage before water reaches a property.
While permanent resilience measures remain fundamental, there appears to be increasing recognition that operational preparedness and temporary protection can also play an important role.
Looking Ahead
Flood & Coast 2026 reinforced something we’ve been seeing for some time at Ashfield Solutions.
Flood risk management is no longer simply about assessing whether a property/site floods. Increasingly, clients want to understand how risks can be managed, mitigated and communicated in a practical way.
Whether that’s supporting insurers with consumer resilience, advising developers through the planning process, reviewing property flood resilience measures or helping businesses improve operational resilience, the industry is continuing to evolve and so are the services clients expect.
For us, staying at the forefront of these developments is essential. With decades of combined experience helping homeowners, property developers, planners, architects and insurers understand and manage flood risk, events such as Flood & Coast provide valuable insight into emerging trends, technologies and best practice that we can translate into practical, actionable advice for our clients.
Looking for expert flood risk advice informed by the latest industry developments? Get in touch with Ashfield Solutions.
