Flooding and land in Chidham and Hambrook
Figures last changed 20 October 2026. House prices for Chidham and Hambrook are on the main Chidham and Hambrook page.
On this page: Does Chidham and Hambrook flood? · Will Chidham and Hambrook flood more in future? · How often does Chidham and Hambrook get flood warnings? · Is the coast at Chidham and Hambrook eroding? · Are there old landfill sites near Chidham and Hambrook?
Does Chidham and Hambrook flood?
From rivers and the sea, parts of it can. One of Chidham and Hambrook's 80 postcodes have their centre point inside Environment Agency flood zone 3, the highest band, and one more sit in zone 2. These zones cover rivers and the sea only and ignore flood defences. Rain is a separate risk: on the Environment Agency's surface-water map (read 18 October 2026), 22 of the 80 postcodes (28%) have high or medium risk within 25 metres of their centre point. Groundwater isn't mapped in either, and a postcode is not a house: check an exact address on GOV.UK.
Source: Environment Agency Flood Map for Planning · Check an address for flood risk · What the flood zones leave out · New builds and Flood Re.
Will Chidham and Hambrook flood more in future?
Yes, noticeably more, on the Environment Agency's climate change scenario. Its long-term flood maps, unlike the flood zones above, count flood defences. From rivers and the sea, none of Chidham and Hambrook's 80 postcodes have their centre point at high or medium risk today, and two under the scenario, which runs to the 2050s with sea level rise to 2065; at high risk alone, none today and two then. From heavy rain, 22 have high or medium risk within 25 metres today, and 29 under the scenario. High risk means at least a 1 in 30 chance of flooding in any year, and medium means between 1 in 100 and 1 in 30. The maps were read on 18 October 2026.
Source: Environment Agency long-term flood risk maps, today and with climate change.
How often does Chidham and Hambrook get flood warnings?
The Environment Agency issued a flood warning for part of Chidham and Hambrook on eleven days in the ten years to June 2026, most recently on 30 March 2025. Three of its 80 postcodes sit inside the Agency's flood warning area "Bosham and West Itchenor" (Chichester Harbour), with warnings on eleven days. No severe flood warning, the level that means danger to life, was issued in that time. Flood alerts, the earlier message that flooding is possible, went out on 44 days in that time, most recently on 2 February 2026. Warnings cover flooding from rivers and the sea, and groundwater in a few places, not heavy rain on its own. Each count is of days on which a new warning or alert went out, so updates on an event already running are not counted again.
Source: Environment Agency Historic Flood Warnings · Environment Agency flood warning and alert areas (real-time flood-monitoring API) · Sign up for free flood warnings.
Is the coast at Chidham and Hambrook eroding?
Not where homes are, on current plans. The shoreline plan for the 2.7 km of coast within 500 metres of Chidham and Hambrook's postcodes is to hold the line, keeping the existing defences, through to 2105. None of its postcodes has its centre point in land the Environment Agency's erosion map expects to be lost by 2105, if that plan is carried out and with its higher central allowance for climate change.
Source: Environment Agency National Coastal Erosion Risk Map 2024.
Are there old landfill sites near Chidham and Hambrook?
Yes. The Environment Agency's record of historic landfill sites shows two within 500 metres of a Chidham and Hambrook postcode, and 16 of its 80 postcodes (20%) have their centre point on one or within 250 metres of it. The one closest to most postcodes is Cot Lane, for which the record gives no dates or waste types. The others are Cut Mill. A historic landfill is an old tip with no environmental permit in force: one that closed before tips were licensed, or whose licence has since ended. The Agency says much of its record comes from a national survey in the early 1990s, so it may be incomplete, and some boundaries are only approximate. An old tip nearby does not by itself mean a problem; the council's contaminated land register, or a search on an exact address, says more.
Figures cover 80 postcodes in Chidham and Hambrook. How these figures are made.