09 July 2009
London mayor Boris Johnson has said that publicly funded homes built in the city from 2011 must be better designed to cope with climate change and the warm summers and wet winters that it will cause.
20 June 2009
The recent UK Climate Impact Programme (UKCIP) report is probably the bleakest official assessment yet of the impact of climate change in Britain over the remainder of the century.
23 January 2009
Communities housing minister Iain Wright has revealed in a written reply that Communities and Local Government departmental officials are having “ongoing discussions with a large number of bodies including representatives from local authorities, product manufacturers and the development and insurance industries on this and other issues relating to the building regulations.”
12 January 2009
The Scottish Government released two consultations last week on how to ensure long term improvements to water environments, which outlined plans for carbon capture, urban regeneration and reducing flood risks.
31 December 2008
European legislation that will affect developers wishing to build on flood-prone land came into force throughout the EU at the end of November.
28 August 2008
More concise appraisal of flooding and coastal erosion risk recommended in Making Space for Water has prompted a DEFRA consultation on updated appraisal policy guidance.
28 August 2008
DEFRA is seeking views on options for increasing the use of measures at property level for reducing the impacts of flooding on those homes at the highest risk.
28 August 2008
The Association of British Insurers (ABI) and the Government have reached agreement that ensures flood insurance remains widely available now and in the long term.
31 July 2008
CIRIA’s Local Authority Network on Drainage and Flood Risk Management has found that around three-quarters of respondents believe councils should be responsible for co-ordinating surface water management plans.
30 June 2008
New-build home buyers will find it increasingly difficult to insure their houses, unless better protection against floods is built in, the Association of British Insurers has warned.
31 May 2008
Both responses to the disastrous summer 2007 floods and Government plans to tackle flooding have been criticised as inadequate by the Environment, Food and Rural Affairs Committee report into flooding* and by Council leaders, potentially calling into question many aspects of its crash programme on new housing and eco-towns. The most serious weakness EFRA finds is that “the 2007 floods revealed that, to date, most organisations – including Government – have focussed almost exclusively on river and coastal flooding, and much less so on surface water and groundwater flooding”.
30 April 2008
‘The summer 2007 floods in England and Wales – a hydrological appraisal’, attempts to put the floods into context and whether it will be a long term trend.
30 April 2008
Current water use is unsustainable and water funding, costs and provision can no longer be taken for granted but must be identified as a political priority.
31 March 2008
Major strains on water supply and increased flood risk linked to climate change threaten, particularly in the South East of England, yet only now is the full extent of the potential crisis prompting a fundamental rethink of Government water and housing policy, with sustainable building best-placed to exploit the much stricter regime. Dr Paul K Hatchwell investigates the implications
29 February 2008
The Environmental Industries Commission has published a report calling for the Government to ensure the uptake of sustainable urban drainage systems in all new developments.