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BUILDING-IN RESILIENCE: REVISITING FLOOD MITIGATION FOR NEW DEVELOPMENTS


T


he UK housebuilding industry is facing growing pressure to respond to the increasing risks associated with fl ooding and climate change, principally the need to manage increased stormwater runoff on, or as close to development sites as possible. As housebuilding intensifi es across urban and suburban areas, the challenge of balancing the delivery of more units with environmental resilience has become one of the defi ning issues facing planners and developers, but also architects, engineers, and policymakers.


This research project, which was sponsored by drainage products supplier Burdens, was designed to examine how the industry is currently responding to these pressures through the specifi cation, integration, and implementation of ustainable rban rainage ystems u, and a series of wider stormwater management measures. he headline fi nding was that despite a lack of mandatory regulation, a large proportion of respondents (41%) were using u in projects. his will reassure the many advocates of the approach, however this usage fi gure had not increased since our 2022 survey on the same topic, and had in fact dropped by a percentage point. We also asked about their awareness of the overnments failure to implement chedule  of the Floods Act, which would have mandated inclusion of u in new developments, and the results were similarly revealing. In recent years, extreme weather events have become more freuent and more severe across the . urface water fl ooding, in particular, is increasingly affecting both existing communities and new developments, but the risk is also exacerbated by these developments. The issue is compounded by urban expansion, the reduction of natural drainage landscapes, and growing pressure on existing infrastructure. To combat and mitigate this increased risk, insurers, local authorities, regulators, and homeowners are demanding stronger evidence that new housing developments are being designed with long-term resilience in mind.


THE SUDS TOOLKIT


u have emerged as one of the most important tools available to the built environment sector in managing stormwater and


Have you increased the use of natural water management features (e.g swales, wetlands) in recent years?  Yes  No


reducing fl ood risk. u installations encompass a broad range of approaches and technologies, including permeable paving, swales, attenuation systems, rain gardens, wetlands, tree pits, green roofs, blue roofs, and rainwater harvesting systems. esigned in a seuential hierarchy in projects, u aim to slow, store, fi lter, and manage surface water in ways that mimic natural drainage processes while also delivering wider environmental and biodiversity benefi ts.


HOUSEBUILDERS’ VIEWPOINTS


This research sought to understand housebuilders’ views on approaches to stormwater management, and which of these


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