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Improving the flood resilience of new buildings

Published	15 May 2007

A guide advising industry how to reduce damage to new buildings in flood risk areas was published today by Communities and Local Government, Defra and the Environment Agency.

A guide advising industry how to reduce damage to new buildings in flood risk areas was published today by Communities and Local Government, Defra and the Environment Agency.

Improving the flood performance of new buildings: Flood resilient construction recognises that while planning policy aims to direct inappropriate development away from flood risk areas, some building will be necessary to maintain existing services and communities. Therefore, structures should be designed and constructed to keep people safe, reduce financial losses and speed up recovery.

Experts predict that climate change could mean an increase in the prevalence of flooding as we experience milder, wetter winters and hotter drier summers. It is therefore important to construct new buildings in flood risk areas in a way that minimises flood damage and resilience measures have a role to play in ensuring the safety and robustness of necessary development.

Lords Minister for Planning, Baroness Andrews said:

"There is a clear need for housing and supportive infrastructure across the country and with limited space to do this, it will not always be possible to build away from flood risk areas. Around ten per cent of England's housing stock and population is already in flood risk areas and the sustainability of these communities must continue.

"This guide provides essential advice about the way that these necessary buildings in flood risk areas should be constructed. By developing new evidence on the resilience of different types of materials and construction, it offers clear advice to designers and developers on which methods should be employed".

In his keynote address to the Association of British Insurers Flood Resilience workshop, Climate Change and Environment Minister Ian Pearson said:

"The Government's developing strategy for flood management, Making Space for Water, puts adaptation at the heart of our policies for managing rivers and the changing coastline.

"This new guidance shows how the construction industry can take these issues on board by designing new properties to be resilient to flooding where this is necessary."

The guide has been developed in collaboration with the Environment Agency and alongside Defra's flood and coastal erosion risk management strategy.

Notes to editors

1. This guide is the latest in a series of works on flooding published over the last decade. It can be found here: www.planningportal.gov.uk/uploads/br/flood_performance.pdf [External link].

2. Flood resilience performance is not currently a requirement of Building Regulations. This guide will provide interim advice until such a time as Building Regulations are amended.

3. Improving the flood performance of new buildings: Flood resilient construction complements Planning Policy Statement 25: Development and flood risk, which was published in December 2006. It avoids inappropriate new development in flood risk areas and directs development away from areas of highest risk. It can be found here: Planning Policy Statement 25: Development and Flood Risk

4. Making Space for Water, the Government's flood and coastal erosion risk management strategy can be found here: www.defra.gov.uk/environ/fcd/policy/strategy/rf1rf2.htm [External link].

5. Ian Pearson today addressed the Association of British Insurers Flood Resilience Workshop and announced a number of new measures including a pilot programme for providing flood resilience in existing homes. Further details can be found on the Defra website: www.defra.gov.uk [External link].

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