We hear from Adam Gould, Head of Customer Service and Engagement at Castles & Coasts Housing Association (CCHA), about how we support residents in the event of flooding, or potential flooding.
The health and wellbeing of our residents is our utmost priority. With flooding being an ever-increasing risk in the UK, colleagues from CCHA monitor weather conditions, river levels, and flood alerts 24 hours a day, seven days a week, during autumn and winter, in line with our Flood Response Plan.
The Flood Response Team also meets weekly between October and March to look for any potential triggers and if any are met, the situation is escalated, and we can decide to implement our flood response plan.
If this means residents are evacuated, colleagues form Castles & Coasts Services (CCS) are on hand to put up flood gates and window covers. The properties in at risk areas are already fitted with non-return valves on toilets, as well as flood doors.
There have been instances in the past where homes have flooded in our region without any warning, so it was really important to us to pull together a really planned approach.
We’ve previously visited every resident that lives in a property in areas at risk of flooding and made sure each has a plan - updated as circumstances change - about what would happen during a flood.
The main aim of these is to get residents out and secure their home before any flooding.
This was the case in November 2025, when we took the difficult decision to evacuate a number of residents in Cockermouth due to potential flooding, including some from the ground floor of Victoria Court, one of our independent living schemes.
Aiming to have everyone safely relocated while it was still light, residents were contacted directly by the Lettings & Neighbourhoods and Independent Living Teams to offer reassurance and to make all the necessary arrangements.
Colleagues from our Maintenance and CCS teams were also on the ground installing flood defences to each home to make sure they were protected in case of flooding. Residents had been relocated and teams had left the site safely by 5pm.
Acting early in the day meant the evacuation was completed ahead of the forecasted peak and while daylight conditions supported safer movement for residents and colleagues.
Our primary priority is always the safety and wellbeing of our residents. Our teams work around the clock during autumn and winter to monitor weather conditions and will take precautionary action to evacuate residents if there is an identified flood risk.
Everyone works so hard to support those affected and take every possible measure to protect residents and their homes. The teams involved in flood responses are from all across the organisation including Maintenance, Grounds Maintenance, CCS, Lettings & Neighbourhoods, Independent Living and Customer Services.
While we understand how disruptive this can be for residents, we always want to make sure that they are safe. We aim to handle flooding incidents with care and compassion, to make sure everyone is safe, and that they can return to a home that has been secured for them.
There’s more information about preparing for flooding on our website here.