Flood and high winds threaten homes

A Traditional Housing Bureau product story

Edited by the Buildingtalk editorial team Oct 3, 2005

Climate change will increasingly affect the way we live, so it's vital to ensure your home is going to withstand the forces of nature, says the Traditional Housing Bureau.

Extreme weather, flooding, and even sudden tornadoes - all indicators of climate change - are making headlines every week in the UK.

Climate change will increasingly affect the way we live, so it's vital to ensure your home is going to withstand the forces of nature, says the Traditional Housing Bureau.

Sir David King, Chief Scientific Advisor, said last year: "Climate change is the most severe problem that we are facing today".

To survive the weather we are likely to experience in the UK in coming decades, homes need to be robust.

Fortunately, many homes in the UK are built using solid blockwork construction, which is highly resilient and weatherproof.

However, in recent years, the Government has been encouraging housebuilders to experiment with new methods of construction.

These new methods include timber frame and pre-fabricated buildings - construction methods which are inherently lightweight, and may not be able to withstand the power of water or wind.

Purchasers buying these types of homes may be left with nothing, if their homes are washed away or left irreparable.

If you are considering buying a new home, insist on knowing what type of construction was used to build it.

Only then can you make an informed decision on whether that new home is your dream home.

Planning applications on flood plains in Britain have been going up every year for the last five years - though even areas having no history of flooding are now at risk of extreme weather.