It has been a mixed bag for those who applied for flood relief following October’s adverse weather, with some businesses and households still waiting to see if they will be supported. It was announced back in November that Island residents who had been hit by recent flooding were eligible for vital Government money. Flooded households were told that they could apply for up to £500 to give cash quickly to help with immediate costs, as well as at least 3 months of 100% council tax/business rate relief. Support was also available for small-to-medium-sized businesses and eligible flood-hit property owners were able to apply for a grant of up to £5,000 to help make their homes and businesses more resilient to future flooding via the Property Flood Resilience Repair Grant Scheme. A total of 209 households applied for a Community Government Grant, with 169 of those that applied successful in their application. Just shy of 30 (27) were unsuccessful with those remaining still awaiting a decision from the powers that be. The need for some applicants to give further details such as business insurance etc is part of the reason for the delays. Of the 209 households that applied for support with their council tax that month, 75% (158) were granted it, with 14% (30) told that their application were unsuccessful. Those who applied for up to £2,500 from the Business Recovery Grant, are yet to find out their fate, whilst those who applied for the 3-month Business Rate Relief grant are also stuck waiting in limbo. A spokesperson from the Isle of Wight Council has said:
“A delay in processing business applications has occurred due to revised guidance from the Department for Trade. “Therefore, we have had to do further work to check what we need to verify in order to ensure applications comply with the scheme. “We have now started to assess business applications and will be contacting applicants for further information if required.”
