Pluvial Flood Insurance Claims Rise Due to Building on Floodplains in the UK

If your house was suddenly flooded, would you know what to do? Most of the population are unaware that their homes are in fact at risk of being flooded simply because the house is not in valley, near a river or the sea. Because of this, a flood risk assessment had not been taken upon buying the property. The frightening fact is, most people who are at risk of being flooded are unaware that their home could be sitting in a flood plain.

Flood Insurance Risk Quote

Building on Floodplains in Nuneaton

Over five million people in the UK are at risk of being flooded (about 1 in 6), and this figure is set to rise due to the Coalition’s relaxation on building regulations in 2011. With over 400,000 houses being built in the UK, builders are taking a land-grab approach and building on unsuitable land, including flood plains. Getting flood insurance might be difficult if your home has been built on a floodplain that has had past flooding.

Causes of Flooding to Property

With changes in the UK’s climate resulting in higher rainfall, coupled with thousands of properties being built, flooding in properties is bound to increase. At present, the annual cost of flooding is over £1billion.This will stretch buildings insurance to the limit and create higher insurance quotes for homeowners. Is it any surprise when 210,000 homes have been built on England’s floodplains in between 2001 to 2011, 38.000 of which are in areas of serious flood risk? (Inside Housing.co.uk)

Causes of flooding to properties in this country are:

High rainfall, the sea, rivers overflowing, surface water, groundwater, burst pipes, overflowing ditches and drainage channels.

These can cause two types of flooding: Pluvial and fluvial. Fluvial is caused by an overflowing river or dams bursting, causing water to flow into another area. This type of flooding has occurred in towns and cities banking rivers, streams or the sea.

A pluvial flood is caused when the water table rises due to lots of rain or run-off, causing floodwater to rise through the ground. A pluvial flood is less dramatic than the fluvial flood, but is no less devastating to see water seep through the foundations of your home or an encroaching lake on your back lawn. The fluvial flood is typical of that found on flood plains, the subject of this article.

Is Your Home on a Floodplain?

The terrible thing about building on flood plains is that the homeowners are unaware of the flood risk simply because there are no lakes or rivers close by. The irresponsible and greedy builders have built on a flood plain because of relaxed building laws thanks to the Coalition government. This means the local councils do not have to report cases of ignorance to the Environment Agency. Many building developments in this country are happening on unsuitable land.

A Need for Increased Flood Insurance in the UK

Flood Insurance Increase in UK

All it takes are several wet winters of water seepage into the foundations of your home to disturb the foundations, causing hairline cracks in the plaster and ceiling. Erosion in the mortar will cause cracking in the cement. Land with high clay content cannot absorb the water and so the water will sit unseen beneath the flooring sand driveways. As the water freezes, it expands, creating wider cracks and further damage to the property.

One day, the water will find its way further into the property, causing carpet damage and burst pipes due to shifting walls. All of this is because the house has been built on a flood plain.

Flood Risk Assessment Report in the UK

With relaxed laws on building, more homes are being built on floodplains. Coupled with increased rainfall in the UK, the consequences can only be disastrous for millions of homeowners. Increase in buildings insurance and costs in repairs can only cause further misery. By then, the builders have lined their pockets, ready to move on to another floodplain.

Articles about Flooded Homes Built on Flood Plains

Time lapse video of home being built on floodplain

Horrendous building developments in Nuneaton

the government's disastrous housing planning strategy

http://ampp3d.mirror.co.uk/2014/02/12/the-scandal-of-200000-homes-built-on-flood-plains/

http://www.insidehousing.co.uk/ihstory.aspx?storycode=6525904

http://maps.environment-agency.gov.uk/wiyby/wiybyController?x=357683.0&y=355134.0&scale=1&layerGroups=default&ep=map&textonly=off&lang=_e&topic=floodmap

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/earth/greenpolitics/planning/10673924/We-want-to-make-it-harder-to-build-on-flood-plains-says-Nick-Boles.html

http://www.independent.co.uk/environment/nature/the-more-the-experts-warn-against-the-more-we-build-on-flood-plains-9101710.html

Government Cuts go Too Far: Unfair Cuts to Services for Vulnerable People

Since this country has acquired the national debt, this government seems only keen to balance the books by any old means whatsoever. So what if some old bloke in sheltered housing will have no warden to check if he has eaten all day? So what if some troubled youths will have nowhere to go but an abusive home or fall back into drug abuse? So what? Let’s balance the books so that we can look good for the next election!

Unfair Cuts to Voluntary Organizations

Cuts in Public Funding

There are real stories behind these horrendous cuts and real casualties. The scale of the cuts is truly terrifying and is ruining this country. Let’s take a look at some of the horror stories behind the government’s cutting strategy.

Unfair Cuts to the UK Public Sector

Unfair cuts are happening to local councils, voluntary organisations, charity organizations, youth centres and old people’s homes. The extent and direction of these cuts affect the following examples:

Not for profit organizations for people with learning difficulties.

Organizations that support and help alcoholics, substance and drug abusers.

Charities that help children and young people with mental health problems.

Local youth centres and services for people with nowhere to go.

Citizen’s Advice Bureaus.

Charity organizations that help stop young people from reoffending.

Young carers projects that offer relief for children who care for a family member.

Staff that support old people in sheltered accommodation.

Charity organizations that support the disabled.

Community centres that serve homeless people.

Carers and counsellors for young disabled people.

Support and help for children with HIV.

And many more...

The consequence of this is job losses. Job losses, job losses and more job losses. And the consequence of job losses are evictions, homelessness and increase in debt. This is frightening when there are already over 1 million homeless people in this country.

Horrific Cuts to Charity Services

So according to the Government, in order to balance the books in this country we must cut services to vulnerable people until they have no support network.

A close member of my family has been affected by these government cuts. He is in his eighties and lives in sheltered accommodation. There are several old people with mental health difficulties who live in his complex. There are plans to get rid of all staff, emergency buttons and privatize the complex. Whenever I visit my family member, another resident is seen punching his door and wailing. That’s all he does. Wails and punches the door.

No one ever visits this man. He only speaks to the warden. What will happen when the warden disappears along with the emergency button? What will happen once the complex is privatized and anyone can move in? This man with mental health problems has been a victim of burglary several times and is a sitting duck for the unscrupulous. He represents thousands of people in this country who will be left with no support system whatsoever because of the government’s ‘cuts’.

Bad Solution for National Debt

According to Nick Robinson’s report Spend, spend, spend – what are politicians up to? (BBC News Politics 1 December 2014), the politicians are still spending as though there is no debt. The Coalition has pledged to spend billions upgrading the road network. Hmm.

Okay, so the roads are important, but hasn’t the government got their priorities wrong?

Good Money After Bad

The government is also pledging billions to be spent on flood defences after wet winters. And yet the government’s National Housing Strategy and a relax on planning rules is causing building to occur on floodplains anyway. Farmland in the UK is being depleted, forcing the UK to import food from the EU, to be at the mercy of the overseas prices. Taxes will go up, causing a further squeeze in this country. Again, the poor and vulnerable will suffer and more cuts are inevitable.

Labour claims they would reduce the national debt in a ‘fairer’ way by stagger-taxing the rich via a ‘mansion tax’ to homes worth over £2million. There will obviously be a huge outcry. But taxes will increase anyway. And I strongly suspect the vulnerable will be clobbered again.

Instead of investing the money where it is really needed, the money is being spent on a quick fix to look good. If support networks for the vulnerable were to stay, people would remain in jobs, the vulnerable could attain some independence and contribute to this country. Communities would have a heart. Without vital support where it is needed, the damage to this country will be costlier than the money saved from these cuts.

Link Relating to News about Unfair Government Cuts

http://www.uniteforoursociety.org/page/speakout/statutory-youth-service

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-politics-30287011

Building development on flood plain

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2855331/Balls-mansion-tax-clobber-ordinary-voters-says-Osborne-Chancellor-believes-proposed-levy-end-applied-lower-value-properties.html

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/National_Campaign_Against_Fees_and_Cuts