The government must make sure that new houses are built away from flood-prone areas so Brits can continue to enjoy competitively priced flood insurance, it has been claimed.

The Association of British Insurers (ABI) was responding to the government's recently-released Government Housing Green Paper - which laid out plans for £8 billion of investment into affordable housing, and reforms to increase the supply of low cost and social homes.

Drafts of the green paper said that some new homes would be built on flood plains, subject to appropriate flood defences - and that building of housing in areas at a severe risk of flooding should be avoided "if better alternatives can be found in the same area".

Responding to the green paper, Nick Starling, the ABI's director of general insurance and health, commented: "We need new homes. But they must be built in the right place and to the right design. The devastation caused by the recent floods shows the importance of planning for the future.

"We need a fresh approach to house building to take account of the increasing risk of flooding and to ensure sustainable communities. New homes should not be built in high-risk areas of the floodplain. They must be planned and designed with flooding in mind, with greater use of flood-resilient building materials."