Protecting Your Property

You can never eliminate the risk of flooding entirely, but you can reduce the risk of water getting in to your home or business and reduce its impact if it does get in. The techniques come under many different names, including Property Level Resilience (PLR), Property Flood Resilience (PFR) and Property Level Protection (PLP).

Project Sponge, together with WWT (Wildfowl & Wetlands Trust) and the National Flood Forum, is here to help Slough become more flood‑resilient by offering clear guidance, practical steps, and trusted resources you can rely on.

Experiencing flooding right now?

Stay safe. Stay calm. Help is available

If there is an immediate danger to life, call 01299 403 055

If you are safe, but dealing with rising water, here is a step-by-step guidance from National Flood Forum

What to do during a flood

UNDERSTANDING FLOODING IN SLOUGH

Slough experiences increasing levels of surface water flooding, especially after bursts of intense rainfall. With large areas of hard paving and limited green space to absorb water, heavy downpours can overwhelm drains and cause localised flash floods.

Common locally affected areas include:

Chalvey
Wexham
Langley
Parts of central Slough and around the Salt Hill Stream
Areas near the Jubilee River and its tributaries

Flooding can happen:

when drainage systems overflow,
when rainfall exceeds the ground’s ability to absorb water, or
when rivers high in the catchment push water downstream.

Help to residents for natural flood management

WHAT IS FLOOD RESILIENCE?

Resilience is about reducing the impact of flooding, should water get inside your property. The aim is to ensure that damage is minimised and you can get back in to your home or business as quickly as possible.

Measures should be tailored to each property, such as using porous plaster, fitting solid floors or tiled floor coverings, raising electrics and taking simple steps in a flood event to move furniture and valuable possessions upstairs. Structural measures need to take account of the building type and its fabric.

CAUTION
Older properties (listed & non-listed) often need different approaches to ensure the integrity of the build. Many everyday practices can be damaging and create historic problems for the futures of such buildings.

WHAT IS FLOOD RESISTANCE?

Resistance is about reducing the risk of water getting into a property. These measures can allow you time to move possessions from ground level as well as to get people to a place of safety if a flood is expected.

Resistance measures often involve preventing water entering the property in the first place and they use a combination of products (flood boards and doors, air brick covers, non-return valves, pumps, toilet bungs, etc.).

When considering resistance it is important to ensure the fabric of the property is sound (pointing is well maintained below ground, cable entries are sealed, etc.).

CAUTION
Not all buildings are suitable for resistance measures. It is important that measures are designed for the flood risk, the building and the lifestyle of the people using it.

SIX STEPS

The Six Steps to Flood Protection offers a step by step approach to ensure that you reduce the risk most effectively and are able to respond if there is a flood.

PROPERTY OWNERS GUIDE