Buying house with a culvert

[Iamsodonewith2020]

Anyone know anything positive about them? Found gorgeous house in perfect village after previous sale fell through. It has a beautiful babbling brook running down the side of the garden right next to the boundary and it goes into a culvert about 75m from the property. I have read the horror stories but obviously many people have a culvert underneath their house without realising so I want to know if everything could be ok!!!!!!

I wouldn’t. In my village there’s a culvert that runs through a number of back gardens. Developers built an estate of 150 houses uphill from the village and diverted all the rainwater runoff into the culvert, despite numerous objections from villagers saying it would cause flooding. The council planning dept insisted it was fine. Unsurprisingly there are now regular flooding issues, the water is flooding people’s gardens and they’ve been issued with sandbags to keep it out of their houses.

This doesn’t make a lot of sense. Can you track the stream, can you see if it goes under the house? Your post is confused. On one hand you say Ida 75 m from the house them you allude to it being underneath it. I have one it’s not under the house though. Have you had a survey done?

@Donitta

I wouldn’t. In my village there’s a culvert that runs through a number of back gardens. Developers built an estate of 150 houses uphill from the village and diverted all the rainwater runoff into the culvert, despite numerous objections from villagers saying it would cause flooding. The council planning dept insisted it was fine. Unsurprisingly there are now regular flooding issues, the water is flooding people’s gardens and they’ve been issued with sandbags to keep it out of their houses.

That’s very different though? That’s a new build estate causing flooding as the drain off hasn’t been managed correctly

I'm no expert but I do know that having a culvert running through your property will make a riparian owner. Be sure you understand what that means before you proceed. The government guidance on 'owning a watercourse' is a good starting point.

https://www.gov.uk/guidance/owning-a-watercourse

I would want to know the history of the land - has it ever flooded? Can you get any evidence that it is well built and has been properly maintained? Is it sized for the peak flow of the water during any extreme events?you will need to check it regularly to ensure the water can flow freely and clear any debris etc.

I would be seeking my own legal guidance before proceeding.

https://www.raworths.co.uk/articles/what-are-riparian-rights-and-what-do-landowners-need-to-be-aware-of/

That’s very different though? That’s a new build estate causing flooding as the drain off hasn’t been managed correctly
My point is if you have an open culvert on your property, at any point developers can decide to build houses and discharge a load of water into it and cause flooding. You’d have no control over that.

Donitta I don’t agree with you. When a new build estate goes up then you get to object and all these things are looked at as part of the planning permission process even if you don’t. What happened in your locality is unusual. It’s not a case they can just throw up houses and do that and you’ve no input.

However the op should look at previous flooding issues and also any plans for local development.

We have a main river at the bottom of our very long and thin 2 acre garden. There is a culvert there that takes rainwater from our road and dumps it into the river. It must go under our house or a neighbours house but no one knows where it is as the houses were once barns and I don't think it was ever documented.

Water comes out of it and into the river after snow melts and in a heavy storm, but its never caused us any problems.

We have a culvert opposite our house. It hadn’t flooded in living memory but last year a farmer errected massive cow shed about 1/4 mile away and diverted the ground/run off from water that through it. After prolonged heavy rainfall, we ended up with over 2 feet of water surrounding our house, only narrowly missing flooding to the fortunate positioning of our doors.

Sorry the culvert opening is 75m from the house then the remaining water runs down the length of the left side of the garden as a brook down to farmers land behind the houses garden. The house has a 250m long garden do the culvert opening is 75m from the main
House but in the properties garden. On the environment agency website it shows severe flood risk of surface water where the culvert opening is down the garden about 10m but no flood risk from the culvert opening up to the house. The house is in an elevated position

Not a major problem. Two concerns.

1. is there a flood risk if the culvert blocks or fails? Where will the water go.

2. as mentioned by PP. do you have any responsibilities or liabilities for the thing. If not a main river (doesn’t sound like it is) liability is generally with the adjacent land owners.

On the environment agency website it shows severe flood risk of surface water where the culvert opening is down the garden about 10m but no flood risk from the culvert opening up to the house

I honestly don’t understand this grammatically , are you saying rhe garden is at risk of flooding but not the house?

We have a stream and culvert, the closest point is about twenty feet from the house, it’s never flooded in the four hundred odd years since it’s been built and records began , it’s in an elevated position but for some reason the environment agency says it is high risk.I’ve genuinely no idea why.

I can only say due to rhe elevated position, but it would be proper Armageddon if it did flood.

It depends on the height differential and how much your property is elevated. Personally I’d be looking for about 2 metres, but in reality it will depend on the landscape and where water can flow. Great that the Environment Agency say that only the garden floods - but in what sized event is that? The worst they foresee in 20 years, 75 years, 100 years? These are all common measures. That culvert will require yearly maintenance to clear out nasty debris. It’s like a plug hole that can get blocked.
If you love the house get a flood survey report from a specialist. This will give much better info and management advice than you’ll have had from the EA. Good luck!

The Environment Agency website should give a flood risk for the property, and a map. You surveyor should be able to provide this for you.

We looked into a buying a house with a stream alongside the grounds, and a culvert. Parish Council minutes are your friend: if there has been flooding there will be a lot of 'Residents of Orchard Close have again had issues with flooding on the road... Village Flood Action Group to investigate.' Then you find the flood action group online. That's what I did, anyway.

@Iamsodonewith2020Hi OP, I’m a civil engineer specialising in flood risk management. I work for the Environment Agency a d culvert issues are part of my job. If you message me the postcode of the house and I’ll look up historical flood risk for you and see if we have any records of the culvert condition.

Does the watercourse run directly alongside your boundary? If so, as pp, you’ll become the riparian owner, with various responsibilities attached to that.

I hope you don't mind me contacting you. I've just had a survey done on a house I'm buying to find out there's a 4" culvert stream running under the basement of house which was built in 1830.
Would you be able to give some be able too see if there's any historical information on this culvert. its the bristol area and I'm happy to pay for your time, i would really appreciate any help.