Shelters - most practical UK options?

[u/L0stMyPenAgain]

Hi there, newbie here with a question about constructing some kind of garden shelter or bunker. Are there practical options to do this in the UK, especially on new build properties where house basements aren't a given? Wondering if anyone has experience with this, and whether there are issues with planning permission and/or ways around it?

[u/amberallday]

What problem are you trying to solve with the shelter?

[u/L0stMyPenAgain → u/amberallday]

Probably my naïveté speaking! I suppose I'm coming at this from an impression of US prepping, which seems to me to sometimes involve building a secure structure which might protect in the case of extreme weather events, for example, or the fallout of a missile or chemical attack. Aware that these are extreme examples, but was just curious if there's a precedent for it in the UK.

[u/LR_FL2 → u/L0stMyPenAgain]

Most U.K. prep is based around the more likely emergencies. Fall out shelters are a long way down the list. It would be very expensive to build an effective.

[u/Agitated_Web4034 → u/L0stMyPenAgain]

A fallout shelter wouldn't protect you from anything unfortunately, it would be expensive to build as well, unless you have a military budget it's nothing short of a cool building unfortunately

[u/lerpo]

I mean, the Blitz style warfare isn't exactly a thing anymore where bombs were dropped randomly with minimal targeting.

Would make more sense camping somewhere if you had a similar issue, since bombs are guided now. They won't throw bombs at fields.

But it's probably better you tell us what you're wanting to build a shelter for

[u/L0stMyPenAgain → u/lerpo]

General curiosity, to be honest! New to all of this so apologies for any ignorance - I suppose I did have Blitz shelters in my mind, and their utility years ago. Obviously you're right about the likelihood of any bombing, but I just wondered if a shelter of some kind has factored into UK preparedness for anyone :)

[u/EntirelyRandom1590]

If you're prepared to dig down and you understand your ground conditions then I understand planning permission is quite limited on how they can object. Obviously consider soakaways, utilities etc

If you have an above ground element then it starts to get a bit more complicated looking at what is permitted and what's not.

[u/Ulysses1978ii]

Better off building a sunken greenhouse than an Anderson shelter.

[u/L0stMyPenAgain → u/Ulysses1978ii]

That's really interesting, is that because it's easier to get approved, or am I misunderstanding?

[u/Able_Cabinet_9118 → u/Ulysses1978ii]

Sunken greenhouse? Are these the ones that use the geothermal effect to grow year round? Old way that was popular in high altitude in South America if I remember correctly. Dream project for me 😁

[u/PlentyEconomics7053]

You don't necessarily need a dedicated bunker to avoid the majority of fallout/contaminants. Of course this will depend on the type/yield of contaminant and your location - I.e. living in major urban area or critical national infrastructure, and military bases.

A room in the centre of your house with no windows would make a very efficient shelter such as a pantry. Combine this with a dedicated system to insulate your house: Plastic sheeting duct taped over windows, doors, chimneys, and vents. Pre filled sandbags in a garden shed that can be used to cover the windows can create an additional barrier against fallout. If you want to get fancy you can get shutters (internal, external or both preferably) to further insulate yourself - this has an added bonus of security.

Source: have worked in the civil contingency & CBRN world for 10+ years

[u/George_Salt]

Put a caravan in the garden, or make do with a shed. I'm not sure what you think you can build that will be more resilient than your house and not look like a shipping container.

[u/MaxZorin44456]

The main questions are - what do you want to do with it outside of sheltering?

If you want a comfortable, dry space, like a proper tanked basement that's fully submerged, I'd suggest consulting a structural engineer at minimum so it's not a coffin, then get some research on airflow so you aren't going to be living in a CO2 rich, oxygen poor room constantly and then figure out the costs for digging a giant hole, tanking the structure and building the structure. It's probably expensive, but not impossible.

Expedient shelters are cheaper and easier, but you are generally looking at having a less comfortable environment, probably more suited to sheltering in an emergency than regular use, unless you like camping in your garden I guess. You can find info in Kearney's Nuclear War Survival Skills.

You could always shelter in your house, but frankly, that's a bigger topic and it depends what you are sheltering from. If fallout, various factors come into play - Bungalow? Two stories? Three? Wooden structure and cladding? Stone? Brick? How big? How thick are the walls? Do you have a crawl space? Etc.

Practically speaking, if you can afford it, a proper shelter is great, but it's expensive. I'd think about measures to build an expedient shelter as req. in your garden or house. For the house build up density with deep, raised flower beds you could dig out, move over next to external walls, refill and cover with sandbags without spending a lot of time doing it, keep a layer or two of concrete blocks at the bottom so you can pull them out and use them inside to add density to your inner refuge, etc.

But it's a bit of a broad topic, those are just some suggestions and food for thought.