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?

Have you put the date of the last flood into the search engine for insurance? Check the specific excess for flood too, it's often higher.

If it's flash flood, it's possible to direct it away easier than river rising situations

if you still want to proceed I think you're in a good position to try and whittle down the price a bit given that the EA has clearly fucked up in not giving you info that they should have given you. The vendor will be expecting this.

If you do want to go ahead then you really do need a survey of the drains. This could be paid for with the discount you've hopefully negotiated above

If it is insurable then that is good start.

If you decide not to proceed then frankly the EA should be refunding you all costs paid so far as they withheld info they blatantly should have told you. I am fairly sure they wont' though. Disgraceful behaviour.

You couldn’t possibly have done an accurate quote unless you’d know
Dates of previous flood claims
Claim amounts

did you?

I'm sure the online comparisons automatically assume no actual flood incidents. The Qs are normally how many metres of a watercourse is the house. There's no database of addresses that have flooded, that these search engines cross-reference.

Pull out and sue the estate agent for the cost of the survey / any other losses incurred at this point. They haven’t followed the instructions of their client and knowingly withheld information.

OK, so a quick google tells me that estate agents are not obliged to disclose flooding to a prospective buyer. That’s down to the seller. If you made the offer and it was accepted in April, conveyancing should be well under way and your solicitor should have sent you a copy of the TA6 property details form. There is specific questioning about flooding on the form and if the seller was surprised you didn’t know about the flooding, it may be because they disclosed it on the form and expected you to know.

I think maybe check the TA6 form and see what’s on it, and if for some reason there is no mention of the flooding or they have left the section blank, then the problem is with your solicitor because sending it back blank or non specific should be a massive red flag.

I think this would totally put me off, unless you were getting a total bargain eg 50k off the asking price, and had money to play with in case you were flooded again. As it's been flooded so many times, I think I'd be really quite cautious.

I covered all that upthread and OP totally ignored

Or do as others have suggested and negotiate a really good discount pending a full survey, of drains and anything else water related, not at your cost.

Not RTFT but it seems the estate agent is not the one at fault, because they are not obliged to disclose flood information - the seller is, on the TA6 form and any disclosure should be highlighted by the buyer’s solicitor to their client.

I think you need to at least put the breaks on and investigate.

From what you've said about previous floods, it sounds as though you aren't in a floodplain but the drainage and sewerage systems in that area have been insufficient and poorly designed so that the house ends up with the "overflow" (maybe because the house is lower down than almost everyone else in the area?). So there may be ways to change things so it isn't at risk of flooding but those changes may also be out of your hands because they're up to other landowners and the utility companies.

So if you really love this house, see if you can get an expert in to assess whether the risk mitigation that's been put in place is sufficient (seems unlikely to me but, like everyone else here, I'm just a voice on the Internet) and if there are other things that can be done or a policy that could be bought to protect you. Then renegotiate the price.

I suspect your seller will be furious with the estate agent, we had similar when selling where the estate agent hadn't told potential buyers about a lack of sign off on a conversion that almost squashed our sale and wrecked our onward plans. Fortunately the buyer was in a position to go ahead if we took a small price hit (which was very reasonable). Hopefully your sellers will be equally open to negotiation if you can find a way to square the risks.

We did a price comparison site quote yesterday. It is apparently insurable, cost is about £300 which is about £100 more than we currently pay. I'm not sure if this is reliable enough to count as definitely being able to insure it or not

Suppose you go ahead, & get your insurance.
Then a significant, carpet-ruining, dampcourse-invading flood happens.
Do you reckon your insurers will agree to continue your cover, having paid out several - maybe dozens - of thousands to you?
Or are you going to be like so many unfortunate flood plain dwellers, who can no longer renew their cover, find new cover - or sell their uninsurable liability of a property on?
Don't be the couple left holding the (damp) baby here.

Also - the aftermath of flood damage is miserable.
You need to pull out, & sue the estate agent for any costs you have incurred to date. They deliberately misled you.

We haven't had this form yet, we will be sure to look out for it, thank you

Sorry I havnt been able to keep on top of 300 odd posts at the same time as cooking dinner and dealing with a very demanding 2 year old. You're another savant who clearly knows and can do everything aren't you. I'm privileged to be in the presence of such greatness!!

£300 seems too low for a house that has been flooded a number of times. Are you really declaring every past claim?
It does not matter if you personally have not claimed. The terms and conditions will state you have to declare any flooding within a certain time period whether you owned the house or not.

The TA6, Property Information Form, is one of the first things that should have been sent to you OP, after the memo of sale. Yet you said you were all set to move and have everything in place? You must have it? It's what helps you to decide if you want to go ahead with the conveyancing?

Sorry not RTFT. Must admit it struck me as odd that they didn’t know about the flooding because if the vendor was honest and told them about it when they went back, then it would have been declared on the TA6.

What the fuck has your solicitor been doing exactly since April?!

Estate agents are legally obliged to disclose any material information that they are aware of. Material information includes anything that might affect a buyers willingness to buy or the price they might be willing to pay, so flooding history would be included.

The TA6 form, however, is not a legal requirement.

OP, here's a guide as to what your solicitor should have been doing: -

www.conveyancing-cms.co.uk/conveyancing-guide/

I don’t understand that. Checking on the sign off on a conversion is the solicitors’ job not the estate agents. You shouldn’t have had to take even a small hit on the price, because in the event of the sign off not being obtained, the solicitor would have covered it with an insurance policy. We had exactly the same with a garage conversion on the property we sold and it was highlighted in the conveyancing.

Hey OP,

I previously owned a house that flooded. It was from an issue with next door who didn't fix their flooded cellar and eventually it all came through our kitchen wall.

Anyway, even though this wasn't from anything to do with the weather and was never going to happen again, it made it IMPOSSIBLE to sell. Three buyers pulled out, it took from 2017-2021 for it to actually sell and we lost 20% of what we paid for so all I can advise is that if you choose to sell in the future it might be difficult.

Good luck in whatever you choose xx

This might be why your offer has been accepted.
I would think it would be possible to make a low offer.
If it is run off water it would possibly be up to the farmer or whoever owns the land to make changes and they won't do that if it's not troubling them.

turn on your heels and walk away!!!!!!! flood insurance is an absolute nightmare and that's if your lucky enough to get it.

Don’t suppose the house is in Cornwall?