UK Environmental Risk API — Flood, Geology, Water Quality & Risk Scoring
A single Landmark or Groundsure environmental search costs £20-50 and arrives as a 40-page PDF. Conveyancers order millions of them every year. The Environmental Risk endpoint delivers equivalent data in structured JSON for pennies — flood zones from the Environment Agency, ground hazards from the British Geological Survey, water quality classifications, and live grid carbon intensity — all distilled into a proprietary Environmental Risk Score that no individual data source provides. For developers building property platforms, insurance tools, or ESG dashboards, it replaces a manual process that hasn’t changed since the 1990s.
What You Get
- •Environmental Risk Score (0-100): composite rating across all environmental factors with per-factor breakdown
- •Flood risk: current risk level, active flood warnings with severity and affected areas, nearest monitoring station with live water levels
- •Geology: ground stability assessment, shrink-swell clay potential, radon risk classification, bedrock description
- •Water quality: nearest waterbody identification and ecological classification status
- •Carbon intensity: real-time grid carbon in gCO2/kWh with generation mix breakdown (full depth)
- •Location context: postcode coordinates and geographic resolution
Data Sources
Environment Agency
Real-time flood monitoring from 4,000+ river and coastal stations across England. Provides current flood risk levels, active warnings, and live water level measurements updated every 15 minutes. The authoritative source for flood zone classification used in planning decisions.
British Geological Survey (BGS)
The UK’s national geological survey. Provides ground stability assessments, shrink-swell clay potential (the leading cause of subsidence claims), radon risk classification, and bedrock geology. Data derived from 150+ years of geological mapping.
Environment Agency Water Quality
Water Framework Directive classifications for rivers, lakes, and coastal waters. Ecological and chemical status assessments that affect planning permissions and environmental compliance.
National Grid ESO
Live UK electricity grid carbon intensity by region. Updated every 5 minutes with generation mix showing the proportion of gas, wind, solar, nuclear, and other sources.
Scoring Algorithm
Environmental Risk Score
Weighted composite: flood risk (30%), ground stability (20%), air quality (15%), water quality (15%), radon (10%), shrink-swell (10%). Each factor contributes a risk score and weight. The composite provides a single number for automated decision-making while the per-factor breakdown supports detailed analysis.
Use Cases
Conveyancing Environmental Searches
Solicitors and conveyancers order environmental searches for every property transaction. A Landmark CON29DW drainage and water search alone costs £25-54. This endpoint provides equivalent environmental risk data for under £0.25, enabling law firms to offer faster, cheaper searches or to pre-screen properties before ordering full reports.
Insurance Underwriting
Home and commercial property insurers assess flood, subsidence, and ground hazard risk before issuing policies. The composite Environmental Risk Score feeds directly into underwriting models. Shrink-swell clay data alone — responsible for £400M+ in UK subsidence claims annually — justifies the integration.
Property Platform Enrichment
Property portals and proptech platforms add environmental context to listings. Buyers see flood risk and ground stability alongside price and location. The structured JSON format integrates into existing APIs without parsing PDFs.
ESG & Climate Risk Reporting
Companies with UK property portfolios need to report environmental exposure under TCFD and CSRD frameworks. Batch calls across a property portfolio quantify flood risk, carbon intensity, and environmental ratings for sustainability disclosures.
Example
Request
curl -H "Authorization: Bearer YOUR_API_KEY" \ "https://www.ukdatapi.com/api/v1/environment/BS1%204DJ?depth=standard"
Response
{
"data": {
"location": { "postcode": "BS1 4DJ", "coordinates": { "lat": 51.449, "lng": -2.600 } },
"risk_score": {
"score": 45,
"rating": "MODERATE",
"factors": [
{ "factor": "flood", "risk_contribution": 18, "weight": 0.30, "detail": "Within Flood Zone 2" },
{ "factor": "shrink_swell", "risk_contribution": 5, "weight": 0.10, "detail": "Low clay content" }
]
},
"flood": { "risk_level": "medium", "active_warnings": [] },
"geology": { "ground_stability": "stable", "shrink_swell": "low", "radon_potential": "low" }
}
}Pricing
| Depth | Credits |
|---|---|
| Summary | 4 |
| Standard | 12 |
| Full | 24 |
Related Endpoints
GET /api/v1/location/{postcode}
UK Postcode Intelligence API
Profile any UK postcode: crime rates, flood risk, food hygiene, demographics, earnings, health indicators. 7 government sources in one call.
GET /api/v1/property/{postcode}
UK Property Intelligence API
Property due diligence API: price history from Land Registry, EPC energy ratings, planning constraints, flood risk, and Environmental Risk Score. From £0.01/call.
GET /api/v1/energy/{postcode}
UK Energy & Carbon API
ESG reporting API: live grid carbon intensity, electricity generation mix, local EPC efficiency profiles, and proprietary ESG Score. CSRD and TCFD compliance data.