lovely house, but significant flood risk

8 replies

Honneybunny · 17/02/2011 23:44

Found a lovely house that we'd be keen to view within the next couple of days, only it is on a flood plain. The risk is given as >1.3%, or significant. Am a bit worried that this is going to limit our chances of getting it mortgaged/insured.
Does anyone have any experience with this?

OP posts:

expatinscotland · 17/02/2011 23:45

I wouldn't bother. In addition to being more expensive to insure and/or mortgage, if you've ever been flooded, it's not an experience you'd ever risk again, IMO.

cece · 17/02/2011 23:45

Wouldn't touch it with a barge pole myself.

hellymelly · 17/02/2011 23:47

agree flooding is terrible (have been through two house boat sinkings so I speak from experience).My dream house isn't for sale at the mo,but it is right next to a river,and I don't think I would consider it for that reason.

auntyfash · 17/02/2011 23:53

I'd not bother with it either. Flooding is NASTY! Really really awful. I just wouldn't want to take that risk.

HarrietSchulenberg · 17/02/2011 23:54

Yes, it will affect your mortgage and insurance, and if it was me I wouldn't go for it.
Following the floods of 2008 my insurance company got twitchy and turned down my renewal request on the grounds that my house is within quarter of a mile of running water and that it is therefore in a risky area. The water is, in fact, a trickle of a stream that is 2 streets away with a narrow but very deep gorge between us!

Clarnico · 17/02/2011 23:55

All of the above plus it will be a mutha to resell.

expatinscotland · 17/02/2011 23:56

It's your house, your stuff, everything, getting full of raw sewage, because that's what it is when it floods, mostly, filthy water.

I can't tell you how awful it is.

It's also terrifying and dangerous.

Been there, done that. Luckily it was a rented property but a lot of our stuff was trashed and we had to claim about £5000 off our contents insurance company.

artyjools · 18/02/2011 08:25

Huge areas where we live are designated as flood plain. The last time there was a flood on our road was in the 1940s, before flood prevention measures were put in place. If there were problems getting mortgages or insurance for houses such as mine, our town would be a ghost town.

I wonder how many areas bordering on the Thames are designated as flood plain?

Flip