Aberdeen City Council has announced that a grants programme for installing flooding property protection has been extended to include businesses.

The Net Zero, Environment and Transport Committee unanimously agreed to the move for commercial property owners with immediate effect. The Property Level Flood Protection Scheme already covers residential properties.

The grants cover installing property protection for flooding to include 50% of the cost up to a maximum of £5,000 per property over 200m2 ground floor area and 50% of the cost up to a maximum of £2,500 per property less than 200m2 ground floor area.

Committee Vice Convener Councillor Miranda Radley said: "Flooding can be devastating for any property whether a home or a business so it is good we have agreed to extend the Property Level Flood Protection Scheme to commercial property owners."

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A report to committee said the grants would be paid to eligible commercial property owners on receipt of proof of expenditure and will be on a first-come first-served basis up to the budget allocated. Costs will be covered from the remaining £460,000 amount of the original £500,000 budget.

For residents, they can receive a grant for a flood protection survey of £150 and a grant up to 50% of the installation cost up to a maximum of £2,500 for domestic properties which meet the criteria.

The report said over the previous years the uptake of the grant has been very slow and less than 20% of the budget has been spent while at the same time, several commercial properties have expressed interest in the scheme, however they were rejected given the scheme was only for domestic properties.

A domestic property has to meet at least one of the following criteria to be eligible for the grants - the property has to have been internally flooded previously and actual damage has to have been sustained, the property is located on an area in risk of flooding shown on the SEPA flooding maps, or the property is located on an area in risk of flooding shown on the Integrated Catchment Model. The commercial properties will have to meet the same criteria as the domestic properties to be eligible for a grant.

Property owners interested in applying for the grant can do so via Property Level Protection flood grant | Aberdeen City Council