12 THE CLIMATE CHALLENGE Rising to the challenge of future floods


As building on flood plains continues to be an uncomfortable necessity, James Parker reports on a project to develop a house prototype that rises and falls as and when a flood occurs, thereby unlocking previously unviable sites across the UK.


S


piralling UK housing demand, coupled with the shortage of available land and exponential


climate change, presents a thorny problem leading to an equally uncomfortable conclusion. The current 300,000 homes per year target means that the industry needs to continue to build on flood plains. The increased lielihood of serious flood events in coming years means that high water levels must either be grappled with by developers and their customers, or sites will remain unbuilt.


27% OF ALL NEW HOMES ARE BEING BUILT ON A FLOOD PLAIN


WWW.HBDONLINE.CO.UK


Floods are of course hugely disruptive and damaging – the Environment Agency says that the average time for a family to return to a home after it is flooded is over nine months, disrupting work, schooling and mental health, and causing millions of pounds of insurance claims nationwide. The average cost of flood damage to homeowners is £30,000. However, the Government currently remains committed to its new homes numbers, and the risk of homes flooding despite u and flood resilience measures, is made more likely


by those developments on flood plains. Currently, one in six existing homes have been built in what is now a flood ris area  a total of . million homes. However, a further three million are at ris of surface water flooding exacerbated by climate change. Perhaps most concerning  of all new homes (60,000 per annum) are currently being built on a flood plain. With housing developers having to look “further and wider” to meet demands – not least from home buyers wanting to live in certain areas – this sometimes means “venturing into less than ideal land,” as light gauge steel frame manufacturer Hadley puts it. With millions of homes at risk and millions being spent on temporary flood prevention, the company is proposing a more permanent solution in the form of its FloodSAFE House concept.


SAFE AS HOUSES


Currently under testing in a giant water tan at  allingford  the largest wet


Page 1  |  Page 2  |  Page 3  |  Page 4  |  Page 5  |  Page 6  |  Page 7  |  Page 8  |  Page 9  |  Page 10  |  Page 11  |  Page 12  |  Page 13  |  Page 14  |  Page 15  |  Page 16  |  Page 17  |  Page 18  |  Page 19  |  Page 20  |  Page 21  |  Page 22  |  Page 23  |  Page 24  |  Page 25  |  Page 26  |  Page 27  |  Page 28  |  Page 29  |  Page 30  |  Page 31  |  Page 32  |  Page 33  |  Page 34  |  Page 35  |  Page 36  |  Page 37  |  Page 38  |  Page 39  |  Page 40  |  Page 41  |  Page 42  |  Page 43  |  Page 44  |  Page 45  |  Page 46  |  Page 47  |  Page 48  |  Page 49  |  Page 50  |  Page 51  |  Page 52  |  Page 53  |  Page 54  |  Page 55  |  Page 56  |  Page 57  |  Page 58  |  Page 59  |  Page 60  |  Page 61  |  Page 62  |  Page 63  |  Page 64  |  Page 65  |  Page 66  |  Page 67  |  Page 68  |  Page 69  |  Page 70  |  Page 71  |  Page 72  |  Page 73  |  Page 74  |  Page 75  |  Page 76  |  Page 77  |  Page 78  |  Page 79  |  Page 80  |  Page 81  |  Page 82  |  Page 83  |  Page 84