Building in flooded areas

PasturesNew

I live in an area that's prone to flooding in parts - they built some new houses last year and the steps up to the front door were very steep.... I think they had 8-9 steps above the pavement - everything else in the road is old/terraced stepping straight from the pavement into their front room.

Those steps looked very steep, bizarre, peculiar and precarious when they were building them.... narrow (as they'd had to pay for the land so kept them with the narrowest footprint possible). I just checked/looked, it's a row of four terraced houses, they sold for £380-390k.

The catch 20 thing is: If you design houses to be safe during floods, then they can only be afforded by people who have more money; people with more money have more choice and won't want to live in houses that are likely to flood. So, the only alternative is to throw up cheap houses there for the peasants that can't afford to pay for houses that are designed with flooding in mind and can't afford to live elsewhere.

The_Angry_Jock

Timber and block are cheap.

vivatifosi

PasturesNew wrote: »

The catch 20 thing is: If you design houses to be safe during floods, then they can only be afforded by people who have more money; people with more money have more choice and won't want to live in houses that are likely to flood. So, the only alternative is to throw up cheap houses there for the peasants that can't afford to pay for houses that are designed with flooding in mind and can't afford to live elsewhere.

New build houses are always sold at a premium, so if they are going to build more they might as well a) build them so that they don't flood and b) build them so that their impact on the flood plain or other lands does not cause flooding elsewhere.

There's not much that can be done about houses that are already built, but plenty that can be done about new ones.

I also think that if you do live in an area that may flood, you should have basic precautions at hand. These include things like air brick covers, flood gates and toilet pan seals. These could help where the water isn't too deep, rather than waist deep like on TV. They also don't cost a fortune.

HAMISH_MCTAVISH

It's not difficult to build flood resistant housing that floats up while attached to pillars in the event of a flood.

Nor is it particularly expensive....

In Holland they do it and it's about 20% more than a comparable 'normal' house.


http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-europe-26302176

Or you can just build up on stilts as is done throughout much of the world.







The big problem here is usually NIMBY's and daft planning rules.

kathrynha

I'm in NW Leeds, currently feeling rather relieved that I thought to buy a house on a hill. The current flooding is worse than I have ever seen it in the 38 years I have lived round here.
Over recent years Leeds and Bradford councils have allowed thousands of homes to be built in the area, and it has reduced the amount of water the land can absorb, and speeded up run-off, and I feel this has added to the flooding at the moment.
Scarily both Leeds and Bradford councils plan to allow thousands more houses to be built in the area. Many of these planned building sites are currently underwater, but it's a nice area where developers will get a good profit for the 4 and 5 bedroom luxury executive homes they are planning to build, so I can't see the councils rethinking the housing sites.
And the housing plans I have seen are all traditional houses with ground floor living.

StevieJ

MacMickster wrote: »

In many areas of Spain that are prone to flash flooding the houses are built with an "underbuild" for this very reason. Then of course the Brits come along, buy them and convert the underbuild into 2 extra bedrooms. :doh:

I guess that is mainly on the plain?

Sapphire

kathrynha wrote: »

I'm in NW Leeds, currently feeling rather relieved that I thought to buy a house on a hill. The current flooding is worse than I have ever seen it in the 38 years I have lived round here.
Over recent years Leeds and Bradford councils have allowed thousands of homes to be built in the area, and it has reduced the amount of water the land can absorb, and speeded up run-off, and I feel this has added to the flooding at the moment.
Scarily both Leeds and Bradford councils plan to allow thousands more houses to be built in the area. Many of these planned building sites are currently underwater, but it's a nice area where developers will get a good profit for the 4 and 5 bedroom luxury executive homes they are planning to build, so I can't see the councils rethinking the housing sites.
And the housing plans I have seen are all traditional houses with ground floor living.

My cousin lives in Leeds and I was relieved to hear that she was OK – she also lives in a part that isn't affected by the floods. She does say that the flooding is pretty bad, though. I agree with you about 'over-building', leaving no way for the water to run off or be absorbed into the ground. That is happening in and around London, too – and the fashion for getting rid of front gardens in favour of paving doesn't help. It'll take more events such as this one for policy with regard to these things to be changed.

Recently, I was talking to an archaeologist who is part of a team recording disappearing elements of our history/prehistory on the east coast and the Thames estuary, which are being eroded at a frightening rate. Ultimately, there is little we can do to stop the sea encroaching onto the land, or the events such as those currently being experienced by people in the north of Britain, though we can mitigate the effects a little by making run-off points for water (e.g. creating/leaving marshland, which would incidentally be good for wildlife).

Jonbvn

chris_m wrote: »

Can't remember where, (it may have been The Netherlands) but there was a rather neat design I saw fairly recently - every house was built on a raft and held in place laterally by vertical piles, so if the water came up the house went up with it and dropped back down when the water level subsided.

Being done in the UK!

http://www.construction-manager.co.uk/news/amphibious-grand-design-ready-take-water/

patman99

The Dutch even built an experimental 'village' on a lake were even the roads are attached to dolphins (the posts that allow a structure to rise and fall without tipping over) so it can be done.

Trouble is, no-one is prepared to force in local by-laws to make such methods compulsory in high flood risk areas.

vivatifosi

I've stayed in a neighbouring house to this. Built for hurricanes AND coastal surges:

https://www.homeaway.com/vacation-rental/p975200

You do get moved out to higher land if there is a hurricane though. Lock up and leave.