THE Agriculture and Rural Development Minister, Michelle O’Neill, has launched a new £1million scheme to help people protect their homes from flooding.

The grant scheme will allow owners of residential properties at risk of flooding to install physical barriers and equipment to help reduce the impact of flooding on their homes.

Launching the Homeowner Flood Protection Grant Scheme Minister O’Neill said: “We have all seen the damage and hardship that flooding can have on individuals and communities over recent weeks so I am delighted that this scheme will help homeowners, that may not be able to benefit from a larger scale flood alleviation scheme, to protect their property from flooding.

“Those eligible for the scheme will receive a 90% grant towards the cost of installing equipment to protect their homes.

“Depending on the size and type of property we would expect the contribution from homeowners to be around £350 to £750.

The overall cost of protecting an average home is expected to be between £3,500 to £8,000 using measures such as door barriers, airbrick covers, non-return drainage outlets and waterproofing walls.

“I would encourage people who have been flooded before, or may be at risk of flooding, to contact Rivers Agency and determine if their property meets the scheme eligibility criteria,” Minister O’Neill continued.

The scheme applies to homes that have flooded before and/or are at risk of any weather related flooding (i.e. rivers, sea, surface water and overflowing sewerage systems) and which are unlikely to benefit from a Government flood alleviation solution in the medium term (i.e. within five years). The grant will be capped at £10,000.

Further information and scheme application pack can be downloaded from https://www.dardni.gov.uk/homeowner-flood-protection-grant-scheme while hard copies or alternative formats of the documents can be requested by telephone 0845 3044505.