Flooding Assistance

The following links aim to provide help, assistance and advice to those affected:

Streetcare and Cleansing 

The Council's dedicated Streetcare team are out and about across the County Borough helping to clean up the devastating mess left behind by the recent flooding. 

Skips have already been deployed to locations where multiple properties have been affected. We are also aware that there are some isolated incidents on flooding that may not have had skips delivered - please email your details to recycling@rctcbc.gov.uk and we will arrange for the items to be collected free of charge where appropriate. 

Housing Assistance

If you are in need of housing assistance/advice and can no longer remain in your home due to the recent floods, please call the Housing Advice Centre on 01443 495188 or email HousingFloodSupport@rctcbc.gov.uk.

For out of hours please call 01443 425011

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Community Flood Recovery Grant – Hardship Payment 

The Council is making financial support available to residents and small and medium sized businesses affected by the recent flooding (Storm Bert).

£0.500M has been made available from the Council’s General Reserves to support the immediate recovery requirement arising from this exceptional event, including the Community Flood Recovery Grant.

As an immediate response it has been agreed that financial support be provided to residents and SME’s (small / medium sized enterprises with fewer than 250 employees, a turnover of less than or equal to £50 million or a balance sheet total less than or equal to £43 million) who have been directly impacted by these extreme events.  This “Community Flood Recovery Grant” will be in addition to and alongside the practical support that we will continue to provide.

The level of financial assistance is:

• £1,000 per residential property (household)
• £1,000 per business property (SME)

This funding has been made available for residents and businesses who have been subject to internal flooding (e.g. living room, bedroom, kitchen etc.) as a direct consequence of Storm Bert and occurred during the period Saturday / Sunday 23/24 November 2024. This does not include flooding to garages, gardens, porches, out-buildings etc or rainwater penetration and leaks.

Residents

Eligibility is restricted to owner/occupiers of residential properties. It is not available for landlords; and empty properties (including second homes).

Payments will be made for the purpose of a contribution towards the cost of the damage to property and or belongings and for the personal impact caused.

Eligibility will be based on:

• Residential properties subject to flooding to the internal living space of the property (e.g. kitchen, living room, bedrooms etc.).

The scheme will close to applications on Friday 20^th December 2024.

(Community Flood Recovery Grants (Hardship Payments) are made under local welfare provision regulations

Businesses

Eligibility will be based on:

• SME business premises where there has been damage to stock, property and or business disruption.
• Internal Flooding to premises from which business / service is directly traded which has resulted in business disruption.
• Damage to stock stored on the premises from which the business / service is delivered which has resulted in business disruption.
• Business is recorded on the NDR list as at the 23rd November 2024

This does not apply to storage facilities and or containers. Where a business is registered to a home address, then only one application for grant will be accepted (either resident or business).

The scheme will close to applications on Friday 20th December 2024

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Welsh Government Grant for Storm Bert

The Welsh Government will fund local authorities to provide grants of £1000 for households without insurance cover, or £500 to affected households with existing insurance cover. 

Read more

We will use the details provided to us on the Community Flood Recovery Grant application to make the Welsh Government payments to impacted residents. 

How to recover after a flood

Information on flooding in Rhondda Cynon Taf and what to do can be found here

Help from other organisation:

• Both the GOV.UK  website and Natural Resources Wales gives practical advice on preparing for a flood and what to do during and after a flood.
• Financial Support is also available via the Welsh Government’s Discretionary Assistance Fund, information is available here - https://gov.wales/discretionary-assistance-fund-daf.
• For General Advice or Advice in relation to Insurance, or uninsured losses please contact Citizens Advice Rhondda, Cynon Taf 0344 477 2020, https://carct.org.uk/
  
• Asda offer support via their Emergency Fund, more information here - https://www.asdafoundation.org/how-to-apply
• TooGoodToWaste also offer pre-loved furniture to those in crisis, more information is available here - https://www.toogoodtowaste.co.uk/
• Interlink are offering grants to support our communities affected by Storm Bert. Following the devastating impact Storm Bert had on our communities this weekend, we are offering a Community Flood Fund for the groups affected or those supporting the community. 
  • Grants are available up to £1000 for groups who have either been affected by Storm Bert or are supporting communities that have been affected by Storm Bert. 
  • If you would like to apply for this fund please contact a member of the Community Advice Team:
  • Lisa Yokwe: 07935 942271
  • Liz Lawrence: 07938 442504
  • Julie Edwards: 07598 009035
  • https://interlinkrct.org.uk/blog/2024/11/25/community-flood-fund/ 

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Volunteers and Donations 

 If you would like to make a donation please contact us on the details below: 

• Email - RCTTogether@rctcbc.gov.uk 
• Telephone - 01443 425001

Beware of Rogue Traders

Please be aware of rogue traders in the area, falsely offering support and claiming to be from the Council, housing associations or utility companies. ALL Council staff, housing association teams and utility company employees will carry ID cards and you should always check their details before allowing them in to your property or sharing information with them - Find out how to report a scam.

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Schools in RCT

All schools are OPEN as usual. 

Council Tax and Business Rates

If your home or business has been affected by flooding caused by Storm Bert, please be aware of the following advice in relation to Council Tax and Business Rates payments:

Council Tax

In a number of circumstances your property may have now become exempt from Council Tax. These are:

Class A – Dwellings requiring or undergoing major repair or structural alteration to render it habitable

The property will be exempt for a maximum time limit of 12 month so long as it is vacant and:

• It requires or is undergoing structural alteration, or
• It is undergoing structural alteration, or
• It has undergone major repair works to render it habitable or structural alteration, and less than six months have elapsed since the date on which the work was substantially completed and the dwelling has continuously remained vacant since that date – i.e. if the work was completed after 3 months, then the maximum exemption that would apply is 9 months.

Class C – Dwellings that have become vacant

If a property is left unoccupied and unfurnished an exemption of up to 6 months will apply. The exemption will commence from the date the property is left unoccupied and substantially unfurnished.

If either of these situations now apply to your home please complete the application form and the Council will be in contact with you to arrange an inspection of your property if it is considered necessary:

If you have been required to temporarily move out of your home or have had to permanently relocate you should also keep the Council Tax section informed so that your council tax records can be kept up to date – please complete the change of address form.

Business Rates

Exempt Properties

Although most business properties will be liable to pay business rates even when they are empty, there are a number of exemptions to this rule, principally properties such as shops and offices will be exempt for the first three months after they become vacant and for industrial premises the exemption will be for a period of six months. If, as a result of Storm Bert, your business premises has now become empty please e-mail the Council at revenues@rctcbc.gov.uk providing the full details of your circumstances so that your case can be reviewed and an inspection of your premises arranged.

Partial Occupation

If flooding damage has affected your premises and you are unable to use some part of it and therefore are operating your business out of a smaller area for example then, with assistance from the Council, this can be reported to the Valuation Office Agency (VOA) (the agency with responsibility for setting the rateable value of your business premises). The VOA will review your case and may decide to temporarily reduce the rateable value of your premises for a maximum period of 6 months. This will mean you will pay less business rates while these conditions apply. If this is the case for your business then please contact the Council at revenues@rctcbc.gov.uk.

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