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?

@Gremlinsateit just up the road - this is what we’re dealing with.

Worth also considering according to the environment agency “high risk” is defined as being around 3.3 percent chance a year. So 97 plus percent chance no flood. I looked up a random local road near me and it was surprisingly in the high risk of surface water flooding. It’s never had any issues at all and I’ve been here 9 years. The houses are gorgeous and it’s a very popular road so I was suprised.

Where I live any of the houses effected by flooding are reduced by at least 50%. Even then you need expensive home insurance and it’ll be a struggle to sell. My main search criteria was anywhere effected by flooding we don’t touch.

Even ‘surface’ water is contaminated, it’s a huge job to clean up a house effected by flood damage. Nevermind your electrics etc. there’s some houses that have stone floors and walls at ground floor with electrics high up but I still wouldn’t touch them. Moving all furniture and belongings from gf to first floor at a flood warning is not a way to live.

Could you get an engineer to do a calculation for you, based on newly installed drainage?

Oh yes, it looks awful. Last time I was in the area, I was concerned to a lot of new housing built in an area that was always flood-prone when I was a kid. You would have thought they had learnt after ‘55.

I don’t know in your area but in mine, the map of areas likely to flood has increased considerably over the last 15 years. A lot if riverside properties that before attracted very high prices have become quite affordable in the last 5 years. There’s a reason for that.

To see - and that was to @MaitlandGirl

Hi OP, I am insurer by trade. On the flood risk it is worth getting some quotes to see what this would be like. Given there is an industry scheme to mitigate very high premiums this might not be quite so bad as you are thinking. I would also ask what remedial work had been undertaken locally to prevent a reoccurrence or to mitigate flood risk. All of this being considered I would be very cautious. Flooding claims are very expensive and usually disruptive. 30cm of flood water can devastate a building- all electrical appliances gone, soft furnishings gone and drying out the building can take months.

This is a material omission from the vendor's estate agents. In the first instance I would note a formal complaint to them and their trade body and I might also take some time to visit a solicitor and consider further legal options.

Personally, I do not believe that n Estate Agent forgets to tell a customer about a flood risk on an otherwise perfect property.

for future reference, you can get some information on flooding risk on the Environment Agency's website.

I have been amazed at some of the riverside properties built which are obviously at risk of flooding.

Pull out. Similar thing happened to my brother. They were arranging insurance (no mortgage) and discovered that the property was uninsurable. Neighbouring houses all okay. They pulled out of that and have stayed in their original house.

Was it the garden that flooded, or the garage or the actual house? How long for and how deep? What has she done since then in details so she thinks it’ll be ok? I’d take legal action against the estate agent for any costs if you pull out for not telling you when requested.

You must be very disappointed. Especially as you were going to show your kids. Imagine it was a computer. You wouldn't want one that worked even although something had been split on it. This is such a bigger and more expensive problem than that.

@Gremlinsateit Gillieston Heights by any chance? That’s totally cut off!! The highway is flooded from Bunnings to the Melbourne St traffic lights, up around the Showground is flooded and further out in Singleton and Broke it’s decimated.

OP - there will be another house. One that you can enjoy and not live in fear of having police banging on your door in the middle of the night telling you to evacuate. It’s just not worth it.

We are in a similar place to another poster that we had bad flooding caused by a frame, they dug a drainage ditch and problem solved completely, but will still show a having flooded If anyone searched for the next 10 years.

Even if you can get yourself comfortable on this, I think you will struggle to sell when the time comes.

Our previous house had a tiny, tiny stream beyond the end of the garden. It meant that the house was on a flood plain. We could get insurance, albeit not a huge choice of insurers, but we could get it. The area hadn’t flooded for decades. It really wasn’t an issue.

But when we came to sell, three buyers pulled out after we’d accepted their offers because they were nervous about the potential for flooding. And that was for an area that hadn’t flooded for decades and was really unlikely to. And this is a house in an area which is really really desirable due to location and amenities.

Could you get an engineer to do a specific FRA taking into account the new drainage that’s been installed? I work in this industry (civil engineering) though not as an engineer, and the general consensus when there’s a high risk of flooding shown on a flood risk assessment is that they wouldn’t touch the property with a barge pole.

it may never flood again, it may flood every time there’s high rainfall, I’m not sure I could relax knowing I’d have to move everything upstairs every time there’s heavy rain.

Go ahead and buy and enjoy your dream home. It has only flooded twice in ten years. Get details of what the current buyer has done in terms of drainage and insurance. Then engage a drainage consultant and find out how to flood proof. Deduct this cost from your final offer. You then know that you have done all you can and that the house is sellable. If it was a stepping stone house then no but if it is a dream home and the problem can be rectified then go for it and make sure you get it at a cheaper price.

Pull out. Do not proceed.

@MaitlandGirl yes Gillieston Heights of course! I was shocked to see the new estate stretching down towards the flood plains. The flooding over the road at Testers Hollow was a standing joke when I was a kid.

At some point more than 10 years ago (before current seller bought it) there was a flash flood event with surface water coming over nearby playing fields and flooding the house. I have limited details about damage done, but council put in a bigger drain outside and a storm drain on playing fields because of it.
In 2015 a sewage drain nearby was blocked by a fatburg and caused sewage to back up into front drain and the downstairs loo, because of house's position it is where drains meet and it was where the sewage chose to go. As a result the water company have apparently agreed to regularly flush this drain to prevent it happening again. Downstairs floor was replaced as a result.
In 2020 there was a huge cloud burst locally. Flash flood water runoff came down the main road to the left and down the playing fields to the right and converged on the house, several other properties on the road were also flooded. Water was approximately 1 foot deep outside the front door and came into the garage and front door. Floor had to be replaced again. The vendor had a large deep drain gully fitted the full width of the front of the house, which would store a large volume of water and also drains into front sewer drain. My worry is that this drain may already be at capacity so it wouldn't do anything. It's not been tested with a significant amount of water since installing. Our plan was to brick up the garage to convert into living space and get a better fitting front door anyway soon after moving in, anyway, so this would block up some of the routes of entry into the house anyway. But my worry is that it wouldn't be enough, and if flooding events got worse (as I'm sure they will, I'm not a climate change denier!!) then it will still come in.

@Gremlinsateit the photo I posted is Testers Hollow. The new higher road they’re building is also under water. 😂

Unless it's a huge old mill so flooding sort of comes with the territory and you have enough space to live off the ground floor then no don't buy it. Floods are a huge disruption and badly flooded houses can't be lived in for months on end while they dry out and get replastered. Everything needs replacing. It will happen again.

If you pull out now I would suggest trying to claim for any costs you have incurred from the estate agents. They have made a misleading omission - see the Consumer Protection from Unfair Trading Regs

Sorry OP but I would never in a million years consider buying this house.

I haven't read the thread but maybe I could offer a point of view from someone who lives in a house that has been flooded at least twice in the past 10 years. I've lived in my house 20 years and am happy to stay here and take the risk.

Over the years I've done my very best to flood proof and protect my home, so stone walls and floors, electrics up high, good quality oak doors that aren't affected by water. I have put so many different measures in place that I forget a lot of what I've done. However, if I see the possibility of a flood approaching I can protect my possessions within 30 minutes. I'm fortunate that water doesn't come in very high so all furniture is lifted up above flood height. All I have to do now is dry out the house and clean, which isn't pleasant but is only a couple of days cleaning really. I haven't even put in an insurance claim for the last 2 floods because I lost nothing.

I knew my house was a flood risk when I bought it, but it was cheaper than the car we drove when we bought at the time (not in the UK). I've spent a fair bit doing it up over the years and I love it. It's beautifully situated and at this time of year to be in my garden and surrounded by birdsong and wildlife make up for it. It was amazing for my DCs as children, living where we live has given them an amazing childhood.

It's also a big family house which has accommodated my family very well. I know very well that my house is worth less than other houses in the area, by about 20 - 30k, however it is now in a highly desirable area where wrecks are being bought at stupid amounts of money. I think in a few years, once my DCs have left and the house is too big for me that it will provide a lovely family home for maybe a couple trying to get onto the property ladder. They will get a great home for less money than smaller, less well renovated properties, and maybe they will be happy to take the risk.

I do watch water levels avidly as I'm situated between 2 rivers, I am shocked this year at how much the water levels have dropped, but then we haven't really had any rain at all this year.

I also have no trouble insuring it and my premiums are not high at all, but this is possibly by virtue of not being in the UK.

It's not pleasant being flooded, but for me in my home it's worth taking the risk.