Emergency Preparedness for Flats and Small Homes

This article is marked DRAFT. The structure and source list are in place, but it has not yet been written up as a finished guide. Do not treat draft notes as complete advice.

Official checklists are written for households, not only for houses with spare cupboards. This draft will apply Be Ready items to flats, rented rooms and small homes without inventing separate official rules.

Intended sections

1. You do not need a garage or loft. A single box, a high shelf and a written plan still cover most official items.
2. Water: the official drinking figure is unchanged (3 litres per person per day for three days). Storage is the challenge — plan around supermarket bottles you can actually lift and store.
3. Fire safety in smaller spaces: torches rather than candles; no barbecues or generators indoors (including enclosed hallways).
4. Evacuation in a flood or fire: official advice to know your escape route and to follow the emergency services.
5. Neighbours and building group chats, which official pages encourage as a source of support.
6. Landlords, shared facilities and what you can still do without altering the building.

Sources to use

• Be Ready
• Prepare: power cuts
• What to do before or during a flood
• Fire safety outdoors / barbecue guidance

Open the 72-hour kit builder · Free checklists and official links