Climate change is bringing hotter summers and colder, wetter winters. More floods, slips, coastal erosion, large scale fires, high winds and 
tornadoes are all part of what we see in New Zealand due to climate change.

What has been built and where we have built it in many cases will prove to be a bad decision. What, where and how we build in the future must factor in the changing climate.

Heavy rain causing land slips already destroys homes. Slip prevention of existing houses will certainly not save them all. What was ok to build on, hills, plains and slopes in the past will no longer be possible.

Floods are becoming more common place and keeping water out of low lying dwellings is and will become more and more difficult and more costly. There are an estimated 16,000 flood prone houses in Auckland alone.

Spare a thought for the people of Westport, flooded in 2021 and again in 2022. The house at the beach may eventually have to be the house set back from the beach.

Many existing beach front properties will end up on the beach and swept away as sea levels rise. Some properties will not be insurable in the future.

 Summers are leading to bush fires and houses in the fire path often can’t be saved. More fire resistant construction may help in a small way.

A 2019 study identified that 15,000 people live at the mean high tide mark, 71,000 within 1 meter and 240,000 within the 2 meter mark in New Zealand.

Apart from weather damage to property climate change will effect the type of construction required. Better insulation will be required to heat / cool property.

More wind resistant (bracing) will be needed. More temperature  resistant materials will be used. Ashphat driveways and paths may no longer stand the heat and so on. 

Climate change will bring building change and the cost of construction will as a result increase while the life expectancy of the property may be shorter than we are used to. In the words of Bob Dylan - “The times they are A-Changin!”.