Homes on stilts plan for Gateway

Homes in the Thames Gateway should be built on stilts to counter the risk of flooding, it was proposed today.

Some 85,200 of the 120,000 houses the Government wants built in the area, which stretches east from Tower Bridge to the coast, would be on flood plains.

Now the Liberal Democrats have suggested building stilt homes to ensure homeowners qualify for insurance. They will present the plan today to a London Assembly investigation into the flood threat.

Mike Tuffrey, the party's environment spokesman on the Assembly, said: "While building properties on stilts may seem novel to people in London, this sort of development is commonplace in places such as Atlanta and Zanzibar." He said flood protection measures should be built into each new home to prevent them becoming "uninsurable and uninhabitable white elephants".

The Association of British Insurers estimated that up to 10,000 homes proposed across the South-East could fall into areas of significant flood risk.