The long-awaited Housing Green Paper was finally unveiled, as large swathes of the West of England and the Midlands were engulfed in the biggest British flood for half a century, raising questions about the sustainabililty of building more homes on flood plains.

Indeed, Communities minister Iain Wright revealed in a written reply to Lib.Dem environment spokesman Chris Huhne the day after the launch of the paper that of 1,441,200 new dwellings built between 1996 and 2005, some 133,600 were built on “flood risk areas.”

To be fair, as SB reported last month, housing minister Yvette Cooper insisted “as recent events have highlighted, it is vital to take steps to protect all our communities from flooding.”

As well as helping to prevent climate change, it is important  to ensure that homes are resilient to its consequences, she stressed. One measure that surely will become more urgent will be the installation of more sustainable urban drainage systems (SUDS)

Ms Cooper pointed out that since 1997, ministers have “progressively strengthened the rules on planning to protect homes from flooding, with much higher standards brought in last year.” The new rules require councils to consult the Environment Agency, and where the EA says that the risk is too high and councils persist against that advice, “the government will be prepared to take over those decisions ourselves”, she added.

Meanwhile on 8 August, commmunities secretary Hazel Blears warned households in flood-hit areas to guard against cowboy builders.
 
According to latest information from the Association of British Insurers 45,000 households have made insurance claims in relation to the June and July floods with 14,500 from commercial properties - this includes damage to hundreds of schools, roads and other infrastructure.
 
This looks increasingly like a picture of the future. We have been warned.