By James Rodger Luke Chillingsworth
UK households have been issued a major update over new rules for concrete gardens and driveways. Labour Party London Mayor Sadiq Khan has ruled out charging Londoners who concrete over their gardens for doing so. A spokesperson for the Mayor of London told the Express: 鈥淭he Mayor is not going to introduce a drainage charge in London, and he doesn鈥檛 have the power to. The independent Climate Resilience Review set out a number of proposals the Government could look at to reduce the risk of surface water flooding in London and across the country. 鈥淭he Mayor recently published the London Surface Water Strategy, which will help enable and support the delivery of cost-effective solutions to manage surface water flooding and help green London.鈥 READ MORE Rachel Reeves set to cut cash ISA allowance from 拢20,000 on July 15 Emma Howard Boyd, the chair of the review, said a previous recommendation to ask people to pay stormwater charges when they concrete over their gardens was about 鈥渆ncouraging people to do the right things for the environment鈥, rather than penalising them. 鈥淲e looked at what has worked in other parts of the world,鈥 she said. 鈥淲e have concreted over too many areas 鈥 we need to stop creating a city where we have so much hard surface when what we need are spongier ways of absorbing water.鈥 Where utilities dig holes in roads and pavements, there could also be scope for leaving 鈥渞ain gardens鈥 in their place, Howard Boyd added. 鈥淭here are hundreds of thousands of holes being dug by service providers, which could be mapped and coordinated, and in the appropriate places you could have rain gardens that absorb water,鈥 she said. 鈥淭he mayor of London won a record third election victory after doubling down on health and climate policies,鈥 Boyd wrote. 鈥淎s Londoners increased the mayor鈥檚 share of the vote, the message for other leaders around the world is: stick with bold action on pollution and climate change.鈥 Boyd said: 鈥淲e are entering a new era. In 2024, even as El Ni帽o fades, we are set for another record-breaking year of deadly heatwaves, wildfires and storms. In the last year, floods in the UK have upended lives and battered local economies. The health and security of Londoners and the health of the national economy are inseparable.鈥 This is a reset moment for efforts to increase the UK鈥檚 stability in the face of global climate disruption. As the new government takes action to end the cost of living crisis, protecting the lives and livelihoods of working people from extreme weather is non-negotiable,鈥 she said.