Found out devastating news about house we are about to buy, Should we pull out?

[Welikethemoon]

We were all set to move, got everything in place, went for second viewing to show our daughters thier new house for the first time. Owner was there so I asked her about the flood risk which has come up as surprisingly high on the survey. She looked shocked and said she thought we knew it had been flooded twice in last 10 years but flash flood rain water run off and also before she moved in. She had instructed estate agent to tell everyone who viewed. We have had the offer accepted since April, estate agents just told me, sorry they "forgot" to tell us. Now don't know what to do. Thus was supposed to be our "forever" home, that had everything we needed. I have a very specific list of things I wanted and this ticks all the boxes, there us nothing else currently on the market that comes close. It's a significantly bigger mortgage than current place. I don't want to move again after this. Seller has said she has put in extra drainage since the last flood, but it hasn't been tested in similar conditions since so no guarantee it would work. Plus with climate change its more likely to happen.
Husband still wants to move, I'm not so sure. What would you do? AIBU to pull out now, risk losing our buyers and wait for a better house to come on the market?

Pull out now. Why knowingly walk into more trouble for yourself? Otherwise three years from now you'll have a sick parent, work stress (or pick two other random but common unpleasant experiences....) Aaaaaand the house will have shit all over the ground floor.
Why, why would you lay yourself open to that?

No way would I buy that house. I study environmental science and extreme weather events and flooding are only going to become more common in the coming years/decades. It also sounds like this house has been built on a known flood plain and at a dip in the local landscape, so water naturally moves there, as the lowest point. If it was a bargain then at least you'd have that consolation, but paying your absolute limit for a place that is definitely going to be flooded? You'd be crazy to do that.

You have to have buildings insurance for most mortgages. Being high risk for floods would not prevent you getting insurance, it just might make it very expensive.

"My ex was a digger driver and he could stop anything from flooding!"
This is simply not true the river at the bottom of our garden rose by 9 feet you cannot so anything about that the flood in the ground floor was 4 1/2 feet deep. The house was grade 2 listed and a very important building the trust who owned it took lots of advise it from all sorts of experts it was simply not possible to stop it flooding. Since we've left its flooded three more times.

I’d pull out. We were flooded the same way years ago. Still in the same house (took steps to try and ensure it wouldn’t happen again), but it’s very stressful- don’t put yourself through it. Worst part was dealing with the bodgers the insurance company sent to do repairs. Useless pricks. It was an awful experience. If it were to happen, the insurance company should pay out, but they will try to get it back in premiums and you may find it hard to find another insurer.

We did, last week which alluded to a high flood risk, bit no specific details. It was only by chance that I questioned the vendor about it at the weekend

The survey we had done had a map from the environment agency with blue lines on it where flooding was a known risk. There was a dark blue line (high risk) over our prospective house, but no other details given at all

I don't understand why it was by chance? Didn't the high flood risk make you immediately worried?

It seems you're still going to buy this house. Good luck if yes...

I'd pull out, upsetting though it is. How very convenient for the EA to 'forget' to mention it, or was it on purpose just to shift the property? If you must view any more properties with them (and I'd avoid them like the plague if at all possible) I'd ask them if there's anything you need to know just to be on the safe side.

DH is a civil engineer that project manages flood defence schemes. He's spent a lot of time in communities in Yorkshire and Cumbria after they've flooded and seen the devastation first hand. There's no way I'd consider buying this house.

Presumably went for a basic survey

so it was right there in front of you

i see “high flood risk” on my survey

i get researching and investigating ASAP

I'd claim all of your expenses from the EA, & report him - do EAs have a professional body?

You would have been provided with the Seller’s Property information form

Which explicitly asks in question 7.1 “Has any part of the property (whether buildings or surrounding garden or land) ever been flooded? If Yes, please state when the flooding occurred and identify the parts that flooded.”

www.gov.uk/check-long-term-flood-risk

This is very useful - which I think is what your report is based on
BUT
flood-map-for-planning.service.gov.uk/
is more useful as it shows a map.

We only received our form much later in the process, after all the surveys etc had been completed.

The form is completed before putting it on the market. To the agent.

so if not been provided by agent, then there is an issue

but if has been - it was on the OP

and given she saw “high flood risk” on the survey and essentially just shrugged her shoulders, I suspect it slipped through the net

It's very disappointing to have to pull out, but you're not actually that far along in the conveyancing process, and it'd be even more devastating to deal with a flood. Time to move on.

If you don't want to impact your sale, carry on and go into rented temporarily. You'll be chain-free and the best prospect ahead of other buyers when picking another lovely house.

Because we are inexperienced house buyers and the information presented was ambiguous, some blue lines on a map that didn't relate to any rivers (obvious it is rain run off now, but wasn't specified on the map) the estate agent knew all the specific information 3 months ago, had been instructed by the vendor to tell everyone from the outset, but had "forgotten"

You sound like you still want to buy it. Good luck.

It was not ambiguous

”high risk to flood” statement in the survey is explicit

Did you disclose when you were checking for a quote that it had flooded so often, so recently? If so, I'm astonished that you got a quote so cheap. If I was you I'd be tempted to phone that insurance company to check.

Either way, I would advise you not to buy it.
The distress caused by flooding, and the anxiety caused by worrying when it will next happen should not be underestimated.

Definitely pull out of the sale.. getting home insurance is a nightmare( live in a flat beside a river, where the drainage system failed!)
Should have been highlighted by your solicitor in the search

You have to stop repeating how “inexperienced” you are

you are a grown-assed adult engaging in a transaction you have done before and thousands do in this country every day.

If the property is insureable

no chance of mortgage

“ Wouldn’t touch it with a barge pole” amused me - you might need a barge on the rising floodwater 🤣

Nah, it's a no from me. I'd pull out.

I'd pull out, tbh. Flooded twice in the past 10 years? With more extreme weather conditions in the UK due to climate change ahead of us? Nope.