Pulling out of a house move

[Igglepigglesgrubbyblanket]

We've had an offer accepted and got a buyer for our house. All the paperwork is beginning to go through.
However, I just have the feeling that serious issues will come up on the survey for the house we are buying. It's in a flood risk area and after initially being told the house and garden had never flooded we've now been told the house flooded 20 years ago, but they raised the floor and garden and that the river regularly comes into the garden in the winter, plus there was flooding in the garage 5 years ago. This is by the owners.
I'm put off but have agreed to pay for a flood risk assessment as they say the council is doing work on the river.
Not sure what the point of my post is, but I'm feeling bad about continuing on with our buyers thinking all is well. The move is driven by DH and I'm happy where I am anyway.
What are the logistics of pulling out ? Wwyd in this situation?
Ho

Hi OP,
I would sit down with my husband and firstly talk to him about my concerns and say I'm not keen to move, that there'd be another house that's not in a flood risk area somewhere. Which river is this OP?

It's the Ouse (the Yorkshire one)
We've discussed moving Vs not moving and he knows my reservations and I know his reasons. I've agreed that on the whole for our family I'll move. There will be downsides (v long commute) but also a few perks for me.

So whereabouts on the Ouse? York floods every year, also in your post you said the garage also flooded 5 years ago, was this an actual flood or just rain getting under the door.

Pretty sure it was a flood, the house is on the outskirts of York

I think if it was rain getting under the door they wouldn't disclose it

Yes I remember the floods 5 years ago, they were quite bad... sorry OP but I wouldn't want to move to a house that's been flooded

It's also whether you'll be able to get insurance if it's flooded before. Especially so recently. I would pull out tbh

Definitely look in to what works the council are doing and when they're due to complete. I used to stay in an area that regularly had horrific flooding but the local authority invested a fortune in flood defences and it never flooded since. That was about 15/20 years ago. I had a flat overlooking the river and loved it. All that said, if the works aren't done yet I wouldn't want to live with the misery of flooding or the even the thought of the possibility of a flood hanging over me so it would put me off if the works weren't well underway.

Do you know what the situation is if you do pull out part way through a sale?

Nothing much happens if you pull out of a sale. You lose whatever you’ve spent so far on surveys/legal etc. The sellers are undelighted. Small chances the estate agents will avoid dealing with you again. The end.

Some of the gardens in York are designed to act as a sort of flood gate, a colleague of mine has a garden in two parts and the lower part floods every year.

The floods in York of 5 years ago were huge event. Can you figure out how close the house was to flooding?ie If it would’ve taken a couple of feet more then it’s not really an issue, but 2” more rainfall clearly is.

Our house is close to a river BUT on a slight rise: the water has a lot of places to go before it would ever reach us. Our garden has flooded, and part of it does every 5 years or so- it hasn’t been a problem so far. But I imagine it will effect resale value pretty significantly.

The advantage for us is that we’re rural, our upstream neighbours are a long way (by river!). The nearest neighbours are new build so have a contained septic system... so the flood water is silty but not 💩! I imagine York floodwater is fairly disgusting (no offence to Yorkshire people, I imagine sewerage is same everywhere!). Flooding with contaminated water would be awful, even if just the garden....

The environment agency publish the recorded extents of floods. These will show recent flooding to the area.

environment.data.gov.uk/dataset/8c75e700-d465-11e4-8b5b-f0def148f590

There is a ton of (free) data on the same site, with predicted flood extents from rivers and extreme rainfall. This will be the primary source of information for the flood assessment you have commissioned.

If the property is at risk, you’ll have to consider if you are happy with the probability and consequence of flooding (e.g. would you be accept a 1 in 100 chance of flooding every year). Also, Has/can the property be adapted to be resilient.

Flood risk is only going to increase with climate change. I would be very hesitant about taking it on.

Pull out & don't feel bad about it, they've deceived you.

Tell DH there's no way you're moving to that house, even if you've accepted the move you don't actually want.

You'll only lose expenses you've spent already. Far less than you'll lose if you move to a house that's already having flooding issues - that's just going to get worse, not better!

We pulled out of our buy, but continued to sell our old house and we’ve gone into rental.

Would you consider a rental, also you can see if the market changes in the short term?

As someone whose parents house was flooded it was a horrendous 6-8 months to sort the house out again, but thankfully not happened again since the late 90’s.

Where in York? The floods 20 years ago and 5 years ago were quite different. 5 years ago houses flooded that hadn't flooded for forty years, protected by the flood barrier. It failed but there has been a lot of work done. Twenty years ago the foss was ok but the Ouse flooded. If the house hasn't flooded since then I wouldn't be too worried.

Global warming means we are seeing more extreme weather. I wouldn't move to a house/garage that has flooded so recently and where the garden egularly floods.

Yes, I am worried about the garden flooding regularly, even if the house doesn't. I want to be able to use the garden as it's one of my 'perks' for moving there.
Not sure how you find out accurately how far in the water goes but the historic records which @Geekygeek linked to show historic flooding which looks like it goes right up to the house although I could be misinterpreting them.
I will wait for the survey but I think it's probably off. 😕
Thank you all for being the wise people if Mumsnet!

Actually is it naburn? Cos if so I would pull out, it's a bit chancey. Friends live there and it's never flooded but most of the village does.

"after initially being told the house and garden had never flooded we've now been told the house flooded... "

Well that would make me worried about other things I'd (not) been told.

Flood risk is an important one for me - far too much emotional upheaval. Better to pull out now than later.

Can you say the village? Are you from the area already?

Have you spoken with insurance companies to see if they judge it as a greater risk?

I wouldn't live on a flood plain.
In fact you couldn't pay me to live on a flood plain.

There must be other houses that are on higher ground within a 5 or 10 mile radius. Start looking now.

If you do pull out all you pay for is the surveys/searches that your solicitor has done + their fees. There may be a smaller fee to pay towards the sale, but not to the EA.