Published: Tuesday 24 March 2026
Residents in Kensington’s Lorne Gardens will get flood defence measures installed in their homes, after the Council committed funding and secured contributions from Thames Water and Peabody.
The street suffered flooding in January, after a burst water main at Holland Park roundabout pumped thousands of litres of water a minute, flowing downhill to Lorne Gardens. Twenty-seven properties were affected.
Council contractors are working with residents to conduct surveys in their homes from Monday 23 March 2026, establishing which measures will best protect their homes in the future. This is expected to include flood doors and barriers, internal drainage works and air vent protections.
Cllr Johnny Thalassites, lead member for planning and environment, said:
“Flooding has serious and distressing consequences for anyone affected and we’re serious about doing as much as we can to help prevent it. The flooding in January this year was devastating for residents of Lorne Gardens. I’ve met with the people who live on this street many times and I am so glad that together we’ve managed to get Peabody and Thames Water to contribute funding alongside the Council to put measures in place to help prevent this happening again in the future. Work begins immediately now to survey the properties, make sure we get the best protection available and then instal those measures before next winter.”
How are protections funded?
As part of the Council’s ongoing work to protect the borough from future flooding, it secured £780,000 in government funding for flood protection measures in more than 80 properties impacted by heavy rains previously, including the 2021 floods. Some of this funding was already allocated to 15 homes in Lorne Gardens where flooding has occurred in the past. Now residents and the Council have further secured further funding from both Peabody and Thames Water to make sure the remaining 12 properties in the street will get protections too.
Protecting the borough from future floods
The Council is building flood prevention and climate resilience into its major streetscape projects. Most recently it announced that Portobello Road, which experienced serious flooding in 2021, will pilot a system called Hydrorock. It uses underground tree pits and absorbent materials to slow rainwater before it enters drains. This helps reduce surface water flooding and supports new tree planting.
The Council’s Local Flood Risk Management Strategy 2024-2030 includes community flood resilience, flood awareness, emergency planning, delivering Sustainable Drainage Systems (SuDS). Whilst the Council has a programme of SuDS delivery, which will contribute towards slowing the flow of rainwater entering the sewer network and increasing the overall flood resilience, there will always be properties that are particularly vulnerable to flooding. That’s why the Council applied for funding from the Thames Regional Flood and Coastal Committee to help make homes at greater risk of flooding more resilient. The £780,000 grant is over three years, with homes identified for protective measures not only in Lorne Gardens but also in Notting Hill and Notting Dale.