HM Government’s planning policy now recognises Kabina’s can-float house foundation system
26 August 2026
The National Planning Policy Framework, published 17 August 2026, now allows for ‘floating and rising designs’ for dwellings.
After eight years of lobbying HM Government by Kabina, this breakthrough implies an acceptance of the appropriateness of the Kabina can-float method, on the part of the (MHCLG), the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government.
Kabina’s flood-safe home design, patented in 2021, enables families to live happily throughout periods of flooding.
Lord Benyon has held the consistent view that ‘the truth is we are OK to build in floodplains if we build the right houses in the right way’.
In practical terms, this means that when applying for planning permission for new homes in a Category 3a flood zone (Category 3 land is designated as being most prone to flooding), the Kabina design will be accepted by the local authority and the Environment Agency, but the site will still subject to the 'Sequential Test' (requiring evidence that the chosen site should be used rather than one in a nearby alternative location), and the 'Exception Test' (requiring measures to ensure successful management of flood water).
Neil Cheston, Co-founder, Kabina: “I’d like to thank Lord Benyon and the Kabina team, including John Grayer, Richard Heller, Jane Rowlinson, and Justin Meredith of Floodline Consulting, and others, for helping to explain to HM Government the validity and logic of our patented design, which derives from established and proven Dutch precedent. "Most towns in the UK have areas of designated flood-risk land and given climate change, the Environment Agency increases the amount of such land on a frequent basis. Indeed, there are now some local authorities with land that is solely flood-risk land. "Therefore it is becoming increasingly important to use Kabina's marine-based, buoyant foundation system, gabion wall debris filtration, and resilient utilities to meet this challenge. Let’s hope the new NPPF leads to new, flood-safe homes, in and next to existing UK towns, where people want to live and where they need affordable and secure housing, which adapts to climate change.”
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