Buying a house: Flood risks

[MSIC]

Am in the process of buying a new house blah blah and have a place set up & ready, mortgage is in place and we are ready to rock and roll.
All surveys still to be done before we finalise.

I've just looked on the Environment Agency Flood risk website and found out (to my surprise and bother) that it's right in the middle of a potential flood plain. The nice woman i spoke to at the agency states it is a "significant area" and is a "floodzone 3" which means there is a 1 in 100 year risk of flooding, except that "channel capacity was exceeded" in 2000 and again in 2003.

Aparently i can ask my solicitor for a Hydrologists report for £150, but i have emailed the local council to ask if they can tell me about history of flooding, and particularly if damage was done and claims were made.

Should i get the report? Should i just walk away from the whole lot?

I am worried as i really want to buy the house but dont want a) large insurance premiums b) a living room full of water c) to lose personal posessions.

I might be wrong, but i can only see flooding happening more and more in our lifetimes.

[kalniel]

I would guess insurers would actually be the best people to ask about this, then decide what you can cope with based on their reply. Either the amount will be affordable and then you're covered if you flood, or the amount is too high/cover not available and you'll know not to buy.

[MSIC]

Already tried that route - rang Direct Line, they told me that (for confidentiality) they couldnt tell me if any claims had been made (she said that she cant even search for that sort of request).

She did say however that if i stated that to the best of my knowledge there was no flooding, they would insure me.

That still doesnt stop water coming through my door and walls though

[TheAnimus]

ring them, ask them for a quote for your two homes (as you own your depedants house) one of them, the one your looking at. The other however far up the hill to be off the floodplane

I'd be tempted to back away from the whole deal if i thought there was one tiny chance of flooding.

Also, ask via written corespondance if the current occupier (if he is the vendor) has any experiance of flooding and or adverse weather. Iirc they are legally bound to be honest in their response.

[kalniel]

Yeah you don't need to know if it's already flooded - just look at the price that insurers will sell to you at. If it's low then they must assess it as a realistically low risk, if it's high then you have to think about it.

You can check if the house has any flood protection measures as well (raised door step, no low level ventilation gaps etc.)

[TheAnimus]

also, consider just using it as a barging chip.

espesually with current climate for getting a mortgage, you could probably beat them down a bit saying you need money for goats to slaughter to appease god, or what ever it is the bible says.

[Saracen]

Personally, after recent events, that sort of information would cause me to lose any interest in that area completely. Where I live right now has no risk of flooding, and I wouldn't be prepared to contemplate a move to an area that did. I just wouldn't. I've seen the hassle and disruption it can cause, and I have NO interest whatsoever in even risking a small level of exposure to that.

However, my circumstances (and priorities) and yours may well be different. For a start, where I live has little or no bearing on my work, so that doesn't lock me to an area .... or even a country, for that matter.

So all I can suggest for you, and it isn't much help, is to look at the scenarios .... how much of an issue would it be to look elsewhere, how much do you want that house, or area, what's the realistic level of risk, and so forth. And then decide accordingly.

Even if the flood risk was 1 in 100, it'd be enough to stop my interest in that area dead in it's tracks. But I'm not you.

[MSIC]

It's all good advice, and i have to say that were i giving the advice, i'd be telling me to walk away.

It's just that, otherwise i like the property, plus we found this after a couple of months of looking and i dont fancy the stress of looking again.

Damn it all, i need to mull this over with the wife.

Cheers chaps, i really really do appreciate this, as the consequences are more than just the usual 'RMA the mobo' (or whatever it is that we do here normally)

[Agent]

MSIC - I am probably the least useful guys on Hexus when it comes to housing stuff, but I can say that I've seen the devastation that flooding can cause first hand.
I would never ever buy a house on a flood plain now. The overall hassle it causes is far more than is realised. Its not just a matter of the insurance - they takes ages to payout when it happens, and then it doesn't take into account the hassle of re-buying / refitting things.
Lets not forget that if its a bad area you may need to move out of your house - while that depends on the area, take it into consideration just in case and work out how much hassle and money it would cost you.

And finally? Remember that a lot of people, like me, wouldn't buy a place on a floodplain - its more hassle if you decide to sell it.

I just couldn't do it.

[Saracen]

Originally Posted by MSIC

It's just that, otherwise i like the property, plus we found this after a couple of months of looking and i dont fancy the stress of looking again.

That there is the problem, init?

You might find somewhere else after a week .... or it might take 6 months. It somewhat depends, obviously, whether you live in or near the general area you're looking in. If you live 150 miles away and can only look at weekends, it's rather different from living in the area and being able to pop out every evening. It also depends quite what you're looking for, how specific your needs are schools, transport links, number of rooms, garden size, double garage, large clear basement for home cinema, and so on) .... are how much leeway you have in budget versus typical price.

Originally Posted by MSIC

Damn it all, i need to mull this over with the wife.

Probably a good idea. Making a decision without consulting domestic management may well be considered a spectacular form of exotic suicide.

I don't envy you this one, pal. Lesson for the future ..... check out flood risks while deciding on areas, not after finding a suitable property.

[Stringent]

Buy the house then get it put onto stilts.

[Zadock]

Originally Posted by MSIC

It's all good advice, and i have to say that were i giving the advice, i'd be telling me to walk away.

It's just that, otherwise i like the property, plus we found this after a couple of months of looking and i dont fancy the stress of looking again.

Damn it all, i need to mull this over with the wife.

Cheers chaps, i really really do appreciate this, as the consequences are more than just the usual 'RMA the mobo' (or whatever it is that we do here normally)

MSIC, may I also suggest that you investigate the "Cacthment Flood Management Plan" for the area as well? Its a 100 year strategy that sets out the policy approach for flood defences, they are broken down into policy units each with a different policy for flood defence.

Predictions are based on modelled data and GIS.

Should give you an idea of what kind of measures to protect the area will be in place.

how do I know all of this?? I'm in this line of work, I've had environmental imputs on these.

[hamd01]

In my opinion buying a house is alreadly a stressful and mine filled pit of uncertainty. I'd walk away at the first sign of anything likely to add complexity to the deal.

I know everyone gets attached to a property they are interested in.... but you would be saving yourself a world of hassle by walking away.

That said....maybe its worth speaking to the seller about it, they are going to have a nightmare selling it in todays day and age of global warming, rising tides and inflated insurance. Maybe you can grab a bargain.

[acrobat]

I wouldn't do it if I was you.

"channel capacity was exceeded in 2000 and again in 2003" means that there has been major flooding TWICE in just the past 7 1/2 years. It's too risky. You can loose everything. It doesn't matter if you get a few good years. A flood is going to come eventually. It might not be till 2010. You may even get a good five years, but it will come eventually, and you'll lose pretty much everything. You couch, your carpets, your dining room table and chairs, all your little coffee tables, all your wallpaper, your nice big TV, your dvd player, your SKY box (if you have one), all your kitchen appliances. All the wood gets rotten. You could even lose your car. You lose everything. It can totally destroy families because it's not like a little burglary where you lose your telly and and hi fi, it's absolutely everything, so you are talking about tens of thousands of £ or even more when you consider what it could do to the structure of the house and the house's value too. And you have to pay that yourself out of your own bank account, because the insurance money doesn't come for a long time.

It's just devastating so I wouldn't take the risk. The floods may be uncommon, but you only need one.

[TheAnimus]

think is tho acrobat, enless i'm mistaken (very probable, not really any expertise in this area, hell i skipped most geography classes at secondary school because they where boring) but channel capacity exceeded dosen't mean that your at risk nescicerally.

My parents live about half a click from somewhere that regularly exceeds the capacity (not helped by a shift from farming to car park at little up the hill). But their place is fine, and will not suffer any subsidence any time soon, just because they are a couple of hundreed meters up the hill, which is about 20m higher.

[Barrichello]

I see that you live in London as well - are you moving within the capital? if so you may want to check out this site - Not as accurate or "official" as the Environment Agency, but a interesting read anyway. Also of course just looking at the Thames rather than local ponds/rivers/other sources.

Much like others here i would not take a risk - and would certainly walk away. The way things are going recent floods are a sign of things to come. You only have to see the recent reports of people still awaiting insurance claims from up to 2 years back since the regular localised flooding the UK has been suffering.

Best of luck with what ever you decide.