Updated Government Guidance to Protect Homes from Flooding

One last hurrah before the new Prime Minister was in place was the Department for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities (DLUHC) announcing updated planning practice guidance to better protect new homes from flooding.

The updated Planning Practice Guidance includes advice on natural flood management techniques such as Sustainable Urban Drainage Systems (SuDS), which are “designed to control surface water run-off close to where it falls, combining a mixture of built and nature-based techniques to mimic natural drainage as closely as possible, and accounting for the predicted impacts of climate change.” The guidance states that these “may be capable of comprehensively addressing flood risk to a site on their own”, but adds that “in many cases they will need to be used in a complementary way alongside more conventional flood risk management techniques such as engineered defences."

In terms of new homes in areas at risk of flooding, the guidance states it “should meet recommended standards on flood resilience – for example, using flood resilient building materials or moving plug sockets higher up walls”.

Guidance on the use of natural flood management techniques is also referred to. The guidance states that “Natural flood management techniques work with natural processes to protect, restore and emulate the natural functions of catchments, floodplains, rivers and the coast. They aim to manage the sources and pathways of flood waters whilst providing wider benefits to people, wildlife and the environment.” The guidance includes examples of removing impermeable surfacing, planting trees, making green space where flood waters collect, river restoration, reintroducing meanders to provide additional storage and new saltmarshes, sand dunes and coastal management structures to absorb wave energy.

There are also new sections on assessing the suitability of development where there is a possibility it will increase flood risk elsewhere.

The updated guidance can be found HERE - Flood risk and coastal change - GOV.UK (www.gov.uk)