Charge folks for paved driveways, Sadiq-commissioned report concludes
People who have paved over their gardens with driveways should be hit with extra water charges because they might be contributing to local flooding, a report commissioned by the Mayor of London has suggested.
The London Climate Resilience Review (LCRR) has urged Keir Starmer‘s new Labour UK government to consider introducing ‘stormwater charges’ for people who have no natural run-offs in their gardens such as grass.
It was ordered by Sadiq Khan following what his office branded ‘increasing severity and frequency of climate impacts’ in the capital, including flash floods in 2021 and the 2022 heatwave – and warns of a ‘lethal risk’ to Londoners posed by floods.
Among its recommendations is a call for the government to discourage the paving over of gardens amid a 10 per cent fall in permeable land in England from 2001 to 2022 – with the paving over of absorbent turf partly thought to be responsible.
Citing Melbourne, Australia, as a prime example of how to enact such a scheme, the LCRR said an additional fee could be charged to manage excess flooding linked to a lack of permeable land in local communities.
People who pave over their front gardens could find themselves facing extra charges to offset the costs of managing flooding near their home (stock image)
The Mayor of London, Sadiq Khan, commissioned the review following flash floods in 2021 and an extreme heatwave a year later
July 2021’s flash floods in London saw some parts of the capital drenched in a month’s worth of rain in two hours – with much of the rainfall unable to drain off
Environment Agency boss Philip Duffy has previously said the threat posed by surface water flooding ‘genuinely keeps me awake at night’
And it could be linked to how much of someone’s garden is paved over.
‘As more people are angered by their neighbours adding to local flood risk, one solution could be charging people based on the surface area of the land they own that is impermeable,’ the LCRR report suggests.
‘This would not only raise much needed revenue to mitigate risks, but also disincentivise paving over gardens and other green spaces.’
Emma Howard Boyd, chair of the LCRR, has been unapologetic over the more out-there recommendations included in the report, saying the need to prepare London for more frequent extreme weather events is ‘non-negotiable’.
‘There is a very, very clear link between the amount of hard surfaces that we now have across London, and an increase in surface water flooding,’ she said in remarks reported by the Telegraph.
She added in a separate statement: ‘In the last year, floods in the UK have upended lives and battered local economies. This is a reset moment for efforts to increase the UK’s stability in the face of global climate disruption.’
In July 2021, London was hit with severe flash floods that saw some parts of the capital hit with more than twice the average July rainfall in two hours.
It caused major disruption, and left more than 2,000 properties flooded with stormwater and sewage after drains were backed up.
Sea levels in the Thames are expected to rise by more than a metre by the end of the century and just nine per cent of the flood defences upstream from the Thames Barrier are high enough to last past 2050.
Last November, Environment Agency boss Philip Duffy told the Public Accounts Committee that the risks posed by surface water flooding ‘genuinely keeps me awake at night’, citing a couple who died in Liverpool in July 2023.
‘As a society, we have to take that much more seriously,’ he warned – but the problems thought to be posed by paved over gardens are not new.
The Royal Horticultural Society has previously warned of the need to ‘green Grey Britain’ amid a growing trend for paving over gardens in order to either create new parking spaces or to reduce the maintenance needed in gardens.
It estimates that 4.5 million houses now have no plants growing in their gardens, with a quarter of all homes having their front gardens paved over.
The RHS has claimed that paved over gardens increase the amount of rainwater run-off by as much as 50 per cent, increasing the risk of localised flooding during spells of heavy rain.
On top of that, concrete and other hard surfaces absorb more heat than grass, and expel it at night – making the atmosphere hot and stuffy.
The National Infrastructure Commission (NIC) warned in 2022 that 325,000 English homes were in high-risk flooding areas. Pictured: Hull floods in June 2007
Cars negotiating waterlogged roads in London earlier this month. The London Climate Resilience Review has warned that the capital needs to be prepared for more extreme weather
Sadiq Khan has said he will press Sir Keir Starmer’s (pictured) new Labour government to act on the risks posed by climate change to London
The July 2022 heatwaves left soil dried out, reservoirs depleted and contributed to a total of over 3,000 heat-related deaths in England that year
The National Infrastructure Commission, an apolitical organisation that advises the government on long term infrastructure issues, recommended in 2022 that the government should look at whether it needs to legislate on reducing flood risks.
This was accepted by the previous government under Rishi Sunak.
In 2008 the government changed the laws on resurfacing gardens – meaning anything larger than five square metres was only permitted when the surface was rendered permeable.
But the Greater London Authority says these rules are poorly enforced because of a lack of defined standards on the absorbency of the materials to be used.
And the reasons people are thought to be paving over their gardens so they can park their cars off the street are twofold: to avoid parking permit charges from their local council, and to be able to charge the rising number of electric cars on the roads.
Other recommendations made by the LCRR include a call to develop an action plan to reinforce the Thames Barrier by 2040 and a suggestion to introduce smart meters for water usage that can quickly detect leaks, reducing waste.
It has also suggested making buildings ‘climate ready’ by, for example, making south-facing windows smaller to reduce the amount of direct sunlight and heat getting into homes and considering the need for more ventilation.
The review panel has also called for more investigations of reusing grey water – the waste water from showers and washing machines – in households to reduce demands on sewer systems.
Responding to the findings of the review, Mr Khan said: ‘I welcome this review, which I commissioned after seeing first-hand during recent years how extreme weather can devastate communities, ruin businesses and end lives.
‘I accept the recommendations made to City Hall, and we will work to take forward the recommendations over the coming months, working with our new national Government, local councils, businesses and London’s communities.
‘We do not have a moment to waste.’
A government spokesperson said: ‘We welcome this review and understand the urgent need to prepare for and adapt to the changes posed by the climate emergency.
‘We have a robust plan to improve resilience and preparation for the impacts of climate change across central government, local authorities, local communities, and emergency services.’
The spokesperson added that a Flood Resilience Taskforce was being established to ‘turbocharge’ the delivery of flood defences and drainage systems.
