To finance the fight against American independence, the British government once introduced a brick and tile tax. The plan failed. Centuries later, there is a proposal for another tile levy: extra taxation on tile gardens as a weapon against flooding.
We love gardening, but the state of front gardens, especially in cities, does not always reflect this passion for greenery. Many use their front yard as a parking space, where the subsoil is paved with asphalt, cement, or tiles. According to members of the London Climate Resilience Review, a climate committee of London Mayor Sadiq Khan, it is time to tackle tile gardens fiscally because they pose “a deadly risk.” One in four British households has a stone front yard.
This risk lies in the floods following cloudbursts. In recent years, the British capital has experienced flash floods. In the hot summer of 2021, this even happened twice, which some scientists attribute to climate change. While there have been no deadly victims in London, the head of the British environmental service noted that an elderly couple died a year ago after their car was submerged in a tunnel during a similar flash flood in Liverpool.
A major problem with flash floods is the lack of drainage, partly due to hidden wells caused by litter and poor maintenance. Another issue is the replacement of real gardens with tile gardens, preventing proper rainwater absorption. Since 2001, 10 percent of the London area capable of absorbing rainwater has disappeared. “There is a very clear link between the increase in hard surfaces in London and the increase in flooding,” Emma Howard-Boyd, chairman of the committee, told The Daily Telegraph.
The trend of Londoners converting their front gardens into parking lots is partly related to the introduction of parking charges by the districts. Additionally, the low number of roadside charging stations makes electric car owners dependent on their own property for charging. Private landlords also favour tiles, cement, and asphalt due to their lower maintenance costs. The Guardian once described London as “the city where the streets are paved with gold, and the front gardens with cement.”
Sadiq Khan has expressed support for the recommendations, including the tile tax. This proposed levy, already criticized by the conservative press, exists in Melbourne, Australia, and has the backing of the Royal Horticultural Society, the organization behind the Chelsea Flower Show – an annual highlight for British garden enthusiasts.
Other committee recommendations include strengthening the Thames Barrier, London’s flood defence system, and increasing the number of water meters in homes to prevent water waste.
