That’s how to give house prices a lift!
The home you can jack up when floods are coming
IN most respects it looks like millions of other houses across the country.
However, this three- bedroom home has a feature that lifts it out of the ordinary ... it can be raised 5ft off the ground in only minutes in the event of an impending flood.
Its creators claim it is the first of its kind in the world and, having completed the design, they will build a prototype in Lincolnshire next spring.
The 65-tonne building will have a steel frame and sit on a steel ring beam instead of normal foundations.
It will have eight mechanical jacks powered by a central motor, gear box and drive shafts to lift the whole thing up in less than five minutes.
No one will live there as engineers spend four years testing the design. If it were built for real occupants, then
‘First of its kind in the world’
they would have to leave their home while it is held above ground.
Thousands of elevated houses could be built in high flood-risk areas if the experiment is successful. The costs of the hi-tech equipment would be offset by the relatively lower cost of such land, said Larkfleet Homes, the developer behind the idea.
Chief executive Karl Hick said: ‘ We have planning permission to build an experimental house that could rise on jacks above flood waters, effectively eliminating the risk of flood damage.
‘If tests are successful the house could provide a model that would enable house building on thousands of sites across the UK which at present cannot be developed because of the risk of flooding.’
A spokesman for the Lincolnshire-based firm added: ‘As far as we know, this is the first project of its kind in the world. It seems so obvious really.’ The one- off house will be built in a field by the River Welland in Weston Hills, near Spalding. Solar roof panels and a battery mean it will have a constant electricity supply while water and sewage will remain connected with hoses.
The planning permission expires in 2022 when the house will be dismantled but the modular design means it could be rebuilt on another site. Mr Hick added: ‘The technology is a one-off and therefore likely to be quite expensive but if the system goes into production the costs would certainly come down. The overall cost on some sites may be lower because of the reduced land price.’
If the design succeeds, then insurers will also gain by avoiding huge payouts for flood damage.