Property subsidence assessment: helping to mitigate shrink–swell hazard risk

The BGS Property Subsidence Assessment (PSA) dataset provides insurers and homeowners with tools to better understand shrink–swell and the risk it poses to homes and businesses.

Shrink–swell in clay soils is a major geohazard in the UK and costs the economy over £400 million a year. This is predicted to rise to over £600 million by 2050, due to climate change-driven weather extremes (Harrison et al., 2012). Research predicts a 50 per cent increase in shrink–swell subsidence events across Europe by 2040 (Swiss Re, 2011).

The identification of shrink–swell-related subsidence-prone buildings, alongside the inclusion of potential additional factors that could exacerbate this phenomenon, can better inform insurers and homeowners and form the basis to make decisions concerning prevention and remediation.

Find out more about the PSA dataset and its applications.

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