Housebuilder plans Lincolnshire house that can rise above flood waters

Developer Larkfleet has applied for planning permission to build an experimental house that rises on jacks above flood waters.

The firm says that if tests are successful the model would enable house building on thousands of flood-risk sites across the UK.

South Holland District Council in Lincolnshire is considering plans to build a three-bedroom detached house that can be raised up to 1.5 metres above ground level by eight mechanical jacks.

Work on constructing the house – which will sit on a steel ring beam in place of conventional foundations – could begin early in 2017.

Experiments with raising and lowering the house – including testing long-term maintenance and operation of the jacking system – will run for up to five years.

The mechanical jacking system could lift the 65 tonne house to the full 1.5 metre height above ground in less than five minutes.

The house will be a modular steel-frame design allowing it to be disassembled and re-erected on another site on conventional foundations as a family residence.

Rooftop solar panels and a battery would provide the house with some continuing electricity supply when raised above the ground and the water and sewage would remain connected through flexible hoses.

Larkfleet says that residents won’t remain in occupation during floods. Householders move out and jack up the home before taking refuge in temporary accommodation on higher ground elsewhere.

Karl Hick, CEO of Larkfleet, said: “The elevating house effectively eliminates the risk of flood damage to homes so that more land across the country can be approved for future home building.

“This will help to tackle the housing crisis that is being caused by the demand for new housing far exceeding the supply.”