Emergency Preparedness For People Living In Flats

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Most prepping advice assumes you have a garage, a garden and plenty of cupboard space. If you live in a flat, you have different challenges – less storage, shared stairwells, lifts that stop working in a power cut, and sometimes no gas supply at all. The good news is that a compact, well-chosen kit is all most flat-dwellers need.

What’s different about flats?

Space: you need a kit that fits in a cupboard or under a bed.
Lifts: in a power cut, lifts stop. Getting shopping, water or a person with limited mobility up and down the stairs becomes much harder.
All-electric homes: many flats have electric cooking and heating, so a power cut takes out both.
Fire safety: you need to know your building’s fire strategy – some blocks tell residents to “stay put” unless the fire is in their flat, others to evacuate.
Shared supplies: water tanks and pumps in taller buildings may need electricity, so you can lose water in a power cut too.
Neighbours: you live close to lots of people – a good thing in an emergency, if you know them.

A compact emergency kit for a flat

Aim for three days of supplies that fit in one large storage box or a couple of under-bed boxes:

Bottled water – at least 9 litres per person (around 3 litres a day), plus a collapsible water carrier to fill if you get warning of a problem
Food that needs no cooking – tins with ring-pull lids, crackers, peanut butter, cereal bars, dried fruit
A head torch for each person and a rechargeable LED lantern
A charged power bank (20,000mAh) and cables
A battery or wind-up radio
A first aid kit and a week’s supply of any prescription medicines
Hand sanitiser, wet wipes, bin bags and toilet roll
Warm layers, blankets or sleeping bags
Copies of important documents in a waterproof pouch
A grab bag by the door in case you need to leave quickly

Space-saving ideas

Use under-bed storage boxes for water and food.
Choose collapsible water carriers that fold flat until you need them.
Store tins and dry food in your normal kitchen cupboards and rotate them into everyday meals – a working stockpile takes no extra space.
Hang a grab bag on the back of a door or keep it in the hall cupboard.
Pick multi-use items – a wind-up radio with a torch, a lantern that doubles as a power bank.

For more ideas, see our guides to hiding stuff at home and 16 places to store your supplies.

Power cuts in a flat

Call 105 to report or check on a power cut.
Expect the lift, door entry system and possibly water pumps to stop working.
Never use a camping stove, BBQ or portable gas heater indoors – in a small flat, carbon monoxide builds up very quickly. Fit a battery CO alarm if you have any gas appliances.
A small portable power station can run lights, a router and charge devices – and unlike a generator, it’s safe to use indoors and on a balcony.
If anyone in your household relies on medical equipment or can’t manage stairs, sign up to the Priority Services Register and tell your building manager.

Read our full guide to preparing for a power cut in the UK.

Fire safety in flats

Find out your building’s fire strategy (“stay put” or “simultaneous evacuation”) from your landlord, managing agent or the notices in your building.
Know at least two ways out, and keep corridors and stairwells clear.
Test your smoke alarm monthly.
If you need to leave, close doors behind you, don’t use the lift, and call 999 once you’re safe.
If you would need help to evacuate, tell your building manager – residents in many high-rise buildings can ask for a personal evacuation plan.

Get to know your neighbours

In a block of flats, your neighbours are your best emergency resource. Swap phone numbers with the people on your floor, find out who might need help (older residents, people with young children or limited mobility), and agree how you’ll check on each other in a power cut or emergency.