Journal

SuDS Thinking for Small Residential Plots

6 March 2026 · Helen Cartwright

Small plots still need a story about where water goes. A single soakaway note on a drawing rarely persuades a planning officer who has seen the same detail fail on neighbouring streets.

Start with levels. If the finished garden sits below the road, infiltration alone may not be enough. Sketch exceedance routes so that an extreme storm has somewhere polite to travel.

Choose SuDS features that the homeowner can maintain. A rain garden with accessible planting beats an underground crate that nobody remembers until it silts up.

Coordinate early with the architect on paving falls and roof outlets. Late changes to a patio often erase the storage volume you carefully calculated in week two.

Our Water & Flood Resilience Seminars walk through three Birmingham case layouts — not as templates to copy, but as reminders that drainage is a site conversation, not a last-sheet filler.