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An analysis of the costs of resilient reinstatement of flood affected properties: A case study of the 2009 flood event in Cockermouth

Joseph, Rotimi; Proverbs, David; Rotimi, Joseph; Lamond, Jessica; Wassell, Peter

Authors

Rotimi Joseph

David Proverbs

Joseph Rotimi

Jessica Lamond Jessica.Lamond@uwe.ac.uk
College Dean for Research & Enterprise

Peter Wassell



Abstract

Recently, the focus of UK and European flood risk management policy has been towards promoting the uptake of property level flood adaptation measures. Despite this focus, the take-up of property level flood adaptation measures (both resilient and resistant) remains very low. One of the apparent barriers to uptake is the cost of installing such measures. This study aims to investigate the cost of adopting resilient reinstatement measures by considering a small number of actual properties that were flooded in Cockermouth during 2009. Secondary data obtained from a loss adjusting company provides the basis for analysis. The data take into consideration the cost benefit of resilient repair, assuming the same properties were flooded again. The traditional reinstatement costs were established as the actual cost of putting the properties back in a like-for-like manner while resilient reinstatement costs were established by creating new resilient repair schedules based on recommended good practice. The results of the study show that the percentage extra cost for resilient reinstatement over traditional repair cost ranged from 23 to 58 per cent with a mean of 34 per cent depending on the house type. However, while resilient repairs were found to be more expensive than traditional (i.e. like-for-like) methods, they were found to significantly reduce the repair costs assuming a subsequent flood were to take place. Resilient flood mitigation measures seem most promising and, given repeat flooding, will help in limiting the cost of repairs up to as much as 73 per cent for properties with a 20 per cent annual chance of flooding, which indicates that the up-front investment would be recovered following a single subsequent flood event. The uptake of resilient reinstatement among the floodplain property owners in the UK is very low and one of the reasons for the low uptake is lack of understanding of the cost and benefit of adopting such measures. While there have been previous studies towards investigating the costs of resilient reinstatement, it is believed that this is the first to use real claims data and information to analyse the tangible costs/benefits of resilient reinstatement. © 2011, Emerald Group Publishing Limited

Citation

Joseph, R., Proverbs, D., Rotimi, J., Lamond, J., & Wassell, P. (2011). An analysis of the costs of resilient reinstatement of flood affected properties: A case study of the 2009 flood event in Cockermouth. Structural Survey, 29(4), 279-293. https://doi.org/10.1108/02630801111162350

Journal Article Type Article
Publication Date Aug 30, 2011
Journal Structural Survey
Print ISSN 0263-080X
Electronic ISSN 1758-6844
Publisher Emerald
Peer Reviewed Not Peer Reviewed
Volume 29
Issue 4
Pages 279-293
DOI https://doi.org/10.1108/02630801111162350
Keywords flood affected properties, Cockermouth
Public URL https://uwe-repository.worktribe.com/output/971096
Publisher URL http://dx.doi.org/10.1108/02630801111162350