Building Future Communities report 2023

Floods, storms and extreme weather can cause immense damage, as well as disruption and financial hardship for people affected by them. Find out how climate change might affect us now and in the future, and how we can better prepare our homes to withstand hostile weather and solve one piece of the climate crisis puzzle.

In this report we looked at sustainable homes and the impact floods can have on the environment. We found: 

Climate change and the home 

  • Global warming has led to more extreme weather, like floods, storms, and extreme heat, all of which put our homes and possessions at risk. 
  • We found that 45% of people think climate change will have an impact on their home in the next year, rising to 65% in 10 years. 
  • We’ve asked the government and the construction industry to take action and build homes that are more sustainable and can withstand extreme weather. 

Flood defences 

  • Floods can cause serious damage to property, which can be difficult to deal with financially and emotionally.
  • Basic protective measures, such as flood gates on doors and windows, can protect homes against flooding. 
  • However, only a third (35%) of residents have these installed.
  • Preparing your property for flooding could help lower the cost of repairing a flood-damaged home, and also lower carbon emissions created by repair work by up to 64%.

Carbon cost

  • A home damaged by floodwater needs lots of work to repair, such as drying out the home or repairing structural damage. This work needs energy, and energy produces carbon emissions. This is the ‘carbon cost’ of a flood. 
  • On average, repairing a flood-damaged home causes 13.9 tonnes of CO2 emissions – the equivalent of 6.5 return flights from London to New York. 

See how you and your home can be climate-ready

Download the full Building Future Communities Report, February 2023 (PDF)