Sadiq Khan report suggests charging home owners who concrete over gardens

It concludes with a suggestion that the Government should consider introducing stormwater charges based on the amount of non-porous paved surface in a garden.

Mayor Khan said he would work with the Labour Government to take forward the recommendations in the report.

The report was authored by former head of the Environment Agency Emma Howard-Boyd. She said: “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.

“Water has to go somewhere, and what we need to see is greater sponginess….We would encourage people to look at and understand the knock-on consequences if we’re all doing a little bit of this work to gardens.”

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.”

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The report said that porous surfacing that allows rainwater to drain away has decreased by nearly 10 per cent across London since 2001, as more households choose to pave over their gardens to create driveways.

It also claimed climate impacts in London happen together with the heatwave occurring at the same time as drought and wildfires while periods of extreme heat are often followed by flash flooding.

During the 2022 heatwave, there was a 50 per cent increase in water consumption while reservoirs were at their lowest for 30 years and wildfires pushed the London Fire Brigade to its limits, it said.

London’s trees, and other green and blue spaces, were also found to be under threat from heatwaves, wildfires and windstorms, weakening the capital’s resilience because trees reduce street temperatures and decrease flood risk.

Howard-Boyd said: “We are entering a new era. In 2024, even as El Nino fades, we are set for another record-breaking year of deadly heatwaves, wildfires and storms. In the last year, floods in the UK have upended lives and battered local economies.

“The health and security of Londoners and the health of the national economy are inseparable. This is a reset moment for efforts to increase the UK’s stability in the face of global climate disruption.

“As the new government takes action to end the cost-of-living crisis, protecting the lives and livelihoods of working people from extreme weather is non-negotiable.”