Australia must deliver housing and communities which are better designed and are more resilient to natural disasters, two experts in property and construction say.

As large parts of Victoria battle the latest flood emergency, RMIT experts Dr Trivess Moore and Dr Peng Yew Wong – both senior lecturers at RMIT’s School of Property and Construction – have warned that Australia needs to reconsider where and how our homes are built.

In a statement issued last week and during a subsequent interview with Sourceable, Moore and Wong said that more action is needed to improve the resilience of Australia’s housing stock.

“If the current situation in the eastern states isn’t a sure sign we need to reconsider where and how our houses are built, then there’s a long and volatile road ahead for Australian housing,” Moore said.

“The majority of existing and new housing in Australia is not suitable for performing in our current climate.

“Predicted climate changes over the coming decades will only exacerbate this issue for many Australian households. We are already seeing the negative impact on people’s health and wellbeing during extreme weather events.

“In some cases, households will find their housing unliveable for periods of time if we see climate change much further.”

The latest call comes amid a major disaster in Victoria, which saw some parts of the state receive up to four times their average October monthly rainfall over a 24-hour period last week and has seen many communities in northern and central parts of the state become inundated with floodwater.

The comments also come amid warnings that many properties throughout Australia will be vulnerable to increasing climate risk over the next decade.

In March, climate risk consultancy firm Climate Valuation warned that up to one million homes across 30 local government areas could be at high risk of riverine flooding by 2030.

Meanwhile, in a report issued in May, the Climate Council warned that increasing climate risk (flooding, fire, coastal inundation etc.) could render one in 25 homes uninsurable by 2030 and could see a further 9 percent of properties (one in eleven) reach the ‘medium’ risk classification. (A home becomes uninsurable where risks are such that insurers are unlikely to offer insurance at affordable prices.)

Last month, online financial brokerage firm Savvy released its report outlining the regions and areas which are most vulnerable.

It found that the Greater Shepparton area – the one most impacted by current floods – was at highest risk on account of its flat topography and proximity to the Goulburn River, the Broken River and the Seven Creeks.

According to Moore, poor planning has led to millions of homes being constructed in areas of high risk whilst inadequate design and construction has led to dwellings which are not well equipped to withstand future climate challenges.

On the second point, Moore says many homes fail to deliver adequate thermal performance without mechanical heating and cooling. This will be problematic during heatwaves especially if the power goes out.

Beyond this, he says that whilst Australia has robust design practices in respect of fire risk, the same cannot be said in respect of flooding.

In many cases, More says homes are being constructed without use of future climate predictions to understand where floods are likely to occur.

In addition, construction of some homes fails to maximise use of design elements (drainage etc. – see below) to ensure that buildings are protected from flood waters as much as possible.

Wong agrees. In his own research, Wong has focused on factors which affect house prices and property valuations throughout Australia.

Pointing to the Climate Council data and Climate Valuation reports, he adds that owners of properties in vulnerable areas face higher insurance premiums, difficulty in obtaining insurance (and/or finance) and devaluation in property value.

“Because of climate change, natural disasters ae happening in a more frequent manner,” Wong said.

“As a result of this frequency, we are predicting that house prices in flood-prone and fire-prone areas will be negatively impacted.

“There is clear evidence in the market …

“ … Insurance companies are already imposing higher insurance premiums and some of them don’t want to insure (vulnerable properties) at all. And banks are becoming more reluctant to lend to people who are buying houses in flood prone areas.

“If houses are not insured, you can imagine that house prices will be negatively impacted.

“All these factors will impact house prices in flood and fire prone areas.”

Going forward, Moore and Wong would like action in several areas.

In design and construction, Moore says several measures can help.

For individual dwellings, this includes raising dwellings off the ground, use of suitable materials especially on lower dwelling parts, effective sealing, permeable space around the building, effective drainage and use of plants to absorb water and slow down runoff.

At a community level, important features can include sediment ponds, wetlands or storm drains to slow the spread of water and disburse its direction.

More broadly, Moore says Australia should think strategically about where new housing communities are located and what can be done with established communities in vulnerable areas. In doing so, consideration must be given not only to immediate communities where flooding occurs but also those downstream which may be affected.

He acknowledges that this poses challenges as relocating established communities is not always practical and many Australians enjoy living close to trees and/or water.

Nevertheless, he stresses the need to ensure that whose living in vulnerable areas understand the dangers along with how to prepare for and respond to an emergency.

On this score, he stresses the importance of clear messaging and praises the clarity of evacuation orders and other messages which have been issued over the past week. During some bushfire emergencies of the past, he says messaging has created confusion.

As for insurance and finance difficulties referred to above, Moore and Wong say these could have silver lining benefits but may also have worrying consequences for social equity.

On the positive side, aforementioned difficulties could raise awareness about the level of risk in specific vulnerable areas among property owners and purchasers.

Potentially, this could lead to more demand and development activity being directed away from areas of extreme risk.

Greater awareness about hazards and vulnerabilities may also lead to more consideration being given to opportunities to improve dwelling resilience during renovation of existing homes and may encourage further development of resilience capability/expertise within the home renovation sector.

This is important, Moore says, as consumers may not always visualise the benefits of features such as better drainage until a flood occurs.

Conversely, Moore and Wong worry that greater climate risk may disproportionately affect lower income households, who may be forced into cheaper/vulnerable areas and may become stuck with homes which are disaster prone and difficult to insure.

“I think the thing which will need to change is the implementation through the planning scheme,” he said.

“I think we have the tools and mechanisms to make sure we are not building in the wrong areas and that we are protecting the housing that is already there. But I think that it is through the planning scheme is where a lot of work can be done.

“The (National) Construction Code probably falls short in what it can do beyond minimum quality and performance requirements. But we can still make sure that our house is well constructed and sealed up so that hopefully, water cannot penetrate through.

“But I think given the extent of the challenge, we are going to need responses at a larger scale. I think that’s where the planning scheme, local council and state governments will have a significant role to play moving forward.

“It’s going to take a coordinated approach. You are going to need those departments who are focused on riverways talking to those who are responsible for housing and for planning.

“It’s going to take connection between different people to come up with approaches moving forward.”

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