Buying a property that has previously flooded

[catfeets]

Does anyone have any experience of this or know of any questions we need to ask during the buying process?
We have just found out close to the end of the buying process that the house flooded in 2007. I know the flooding was bad (in the north) but I was abroad at the time so I can't be sure just how bad it was.
We don't seem to be getting any answers as to how bad the flooding was/how deep etc. We just know it was the ground floor and garden. They've told us that drainage was improved shortly afterwards at the end of the road due to a new road being laid but we have no evidence of this.
We are trying to secure new insurance quotes but they are around 5 times higher than our first quotes. There's also a £2.5k excess on flooding claims.
The estate agent was unaware that it had flooded and tried to fob us off by saying they've sold loads of properties that flood and it's not a problem but surely their valuation was based on a non flooding property and therefore we should reduce our offer if we decide to continue?
We just don't know what to do. We can't continue to live where we do now and haven't found anything else as suitable as this house.

Oh golly OP run away! Flooding and the risk of flooding is getting worse with every year that passes (thanks, climate change). A house that floods would literally be a living nightmare.

Have you looked on the Environment Agency website. The flood risk for each area is on there.

It's very late for your solicitor to just be discovering this. I'd want a full flood history for the last 50 - 60 years really.

I live in a flood area and generally if a property has flooded once it will flood again. More regularly now than in the past because of climate change.

I live in a house that floods, in fact it flooded last week and I had to leave for a few nights. I don't live in the UK but I can see on the news when my house is being flooded then properties in the UK are being flooded. There have been some very serious floods in the last few years. If the property you are looking at has not flooded since 2007 then I would not be at all concerned.

My home for example has now been flooded 3 times in the last 6 years (every time at Christmas) and it is valued around 30k less than houses in my village which dont have a flooding risk

Walk away. Insurance can be a problem.
Flooding is hell to be in, deal with losing precious items and deal with the hassle of putting things right afterwards. Not to mention if you want to sell in the future.
Walk away.

Don’t do it. A nightmare to insure, impossible to sell and will never hold its value. Don’t walk away; run.

There will have to have been major flood defence work put in to eliminate the risk.

Irrespective as you have found out, the insurance will either be sky high or uninsurable. If it flooded again, you would not get insured afterwards

I would leave it

You can get specialist flood insurance for houses that have been flooded before - there's a government scheme for it - but it will cost a fair amount more. We subscribe to local flood risk alerts and warnings so we are informed when the river reaches the level at which flooding has occurred in the past. The biggest issue for me is preparedness. We keep valuables away from the floor as far as possible and everything else gets taken upstairs when there's a flood warning. We're getting barriers and a pump installed by the council to reduce the impact of any future flooding.

Don’t even go there, why would you? There’s a reason I bought a house at the top of a hill, with steps needed to get to the front door.

I’d walk away too.

Don't do it. I have several colleagues whose houses flooded a few years ago - it was devistating for them. For a lot of them it wasn't the first time and they don't expect it to be the last. Why put yourself through that knowingly?

We had a similar thing and payed for a specialised flood risk assessment. We walked away in the end despite the work the owner had done to flood proof the property.

We are in the process of buying a house on a flood plain. I disagree with those saying ‘walk away’. If you live in a flood prone area it’s not that simple... you can get insurance although it will be more expensive. We’re getting a specialist flood survey to see what we can do to minimise risk. Keep valuables upstairs. Don’t pay £££ on fancy flooring.

I’d also walk away. I couldn’t cope with the constant worry every time it rained. Also as a general trend incidents of flooding are likely to get more, not less frequent meaning that the house may devalue even more in your hands over the next couple of years.

@Lindy2 we'd already checked the environment agency website and been surprised to see that it was classed as high risk of surface water flooding. After checking all the local news reports we could find, we couldn't see anything about that area ever flooding at all. We decided that it was possible the yard might flood but really didn't expect the house to have flooded.

@Bargebill19 we've had more insurance quotes back today and most companies aren't bothered about the flooding as it's over 10yrs ago. Selling the house on would be a worry for us - we expect to be in the house 15yrs plus so if it floods again maybe it would be unsellable.

@brittanyfairies sorry to hear you've had flooding. Hope everything is ok.

@justabigdisco I didn't realise there were specialist flooding surveys. We haven't had the results of the normal survey yet so it may be that there's other issues to deal with.
I think there's things that could easily be done to minimise the risk. I don't think the vendors have done anything at all to stop further floods.

Environment agency publish most of their data on the Defra data Platform, including recorded flood extents (records of actual flooding) and risk maps (modelled possible flood extents).

Observed flood extents are here
environment.data.gov.uk/dataset/8c75e700-d465-11e4-8b5b-f0def148f590

Useful to see how often the area has flooded historically. These arent absolute, so will miss rural/areas of low property density. You will need a GIS app to view (e.g. QGIS).

Personally, if the area were at flood risk, even with a recent flood defence scheme, I’d run away, flooding will only get worse in the future and there is low chance of a government funded flood defence in many areas.

If the flooding was a one off operational source (e.g. burst water main) I’d be a bit more accepting.

Good luck!

@Geekygeek thank you for the link. I will have a good look at it. The area may not be included as there are only 5 houses there.
We know there is a planned flood risk management plan for the nearest river (which we aren't at risk from) and this may include upgrades to the culvert that flooded near the house. It seems that it's very low on the priorities list for the council though so may never be completed.

I wouldn't buy it due to problems reselling. If you do buy it, I would certainly be substantially lowering the offer!

Our village flooded on Christmas Eve and it’s a nightmare for the poor people affected. People have lost every stick of furniture, carpets have had to be ripped out, people are freezing cold because their heating has been knackered. The village has rallied round with heaters and other help, the church has even bought a washing machine for those who lost theirs to use, but it’s awful. I wouldn’t touch a house that had been flooded with a barge pole, I’m afraid.

Oh goodNess. .,run ! Please

We've had the survey back today. They've found damp throughout the ground floor :(
The valuation has come back lower than we offered.

@Spudlet that sounds terrible. Hope you're ok and not at further risk.

Oh dear. It does sound like it would be easier to leave it. Do you particularly love it? What's stopping you from walking away?

The flooding would put me off. Damp is t always bad if it can be sorted - often worth getting a quote from a specialist company if you are still interested in proceeding.

*isn't always bad

This is a no no. Never buy a bad risk property. You will struggle to get insurance and pay a huge premium for it.

We pulled out of our dream house because it had previously flooded in 2007, and although had never flooded since it was still a high risk on the searches.

It was the hardest decision I've ever made but ultimately I'm so relieved! I would have worried every time it rained and it would have been hell to try and sell on.