Issues and opportunities

New housing should be designed, sited and built to be resilient to projected climate changes over its design lifetime particularly with respect to:

• Flood risks - coastal, fluvial, ground and surface water flooding
• Changes to average and extreme temperatures
• Possible increases in frequency and severity of storms (high winds)
• Efficient management of water resources
• Subsidence and heave due to changing ground water conditions

Typically this will require consideration of climate threats and opportunities for periods in excess of 30 years. Given that the uncertainties of climate change projections increase with time, one of the important design criteria is likely to be flexibility to cope with a range of future climate risks.

General advice on climate risks to buildings is available here. The specific climate risks that need to be considered for a given development will be related to:

• The geographical location of your authority
• The location of the site; and
• site-specific conditions

General guidance on the specification, design, and construction of new premises is available here.

New housing developments should consider the use of SUDS (Sustainable Drainage Systems) techniques to handle surface water in order to minimise on- and off-site flood risks.

Sources of advice

Design advice:-

• Adapting to climate change: a checklist for developers, Climate South East
• Adapting to Climate Change: A Case Study Companion to the Checklist for Developers, Climate South East
• Climate Change Adaptation by design, TCPA
• Climate Change and Innovation in House Building: Designing out Risk, NHBC Foundation
• Homes for a changing climate, Will Anderson, illustrates the many ways in which houses can be designed, built and adapted to cope with climate change.

Sustainable Drainage Systems (SUDS):

• CIRIA site on SUDS
• LANDFORM the Local Authority Network on Drainage and Flood Risk Management
• Environment Agency guidance on SUDS
• Approved Document H Building regulations - Drainage and Waste Disposal (2002 edition) (PDF 2133 Kb).
• Sustainable Drainage Systems for New Homes - Best Practice Guidance (PDF 12.3MB) This report provides detailed technical guidance on SUDs techniques based on the Lamb Grove, Cambourne, Cambridgeshire project as part of the FLOWS programme

Planning Policy Statements

• Planning Policy Statement: Planning and Climate Change - Supplement to Planning Policy Statement 1
• Planning Policy Statement 3: Housing
• Planning Policy Statement 25: Development and Flood Risk