The UK insurance industry is calling on the government to review its planning policies and to reconsider its decision to allow the development of new homes on flood plains.

The Association of British Insurers has written to environment secretary Hilary Benn urging him to increase spending on the nation’s flood defences and drainage management.

It said the government had a duty to protect homeowners from flooding and insisted building more homes on flood plains was not the way to do this.

The organisation’s director general Stephen Hadrill said the insurance industry would "in future scrutinise new developments more closely and warn of potential uninsurability more robustly".

The push to build on flood plains comes as part of the government’s plan to build three million new homes, including affordable properties and social housing, by 2020.

The push will undoubtedly create more jobs in the construction industry and the public sector as a result of the increased demand for trained workers and the need create a skills framework across the country to meet the ambitious target.

More skills framework information