Property searches high surface water risk

[stevalnamechanger]

Hi all,

Following my property nightmare .. the place we are buying was downvalued by the bank then has now come back high risk for surface water flooding

It's in London, a lot of the streets in the area we want are high risk it seems ...

Would we be unfair to reduce our offer to cover the cost of flood defense fencing? Or ask the seller to cover this?

It's either that , pulling out or sucking up a large cost ahead to future proof the property :(

Will you be able to get insurance?

Ask the vendors (in writing) has the property ever flooded, has the garden ever flooded, has the road ever flooded. As above check insurance is possible (& not overly expensive). Assuming you had a survey done, speak to your surveyor - they should(!) know their patch quite well and have local knowledge that may be of use to you in making your decision.

Yes I have done insurance searches and there is no issue it seems, and it is not more expensive than our current insurance.

They have said in writing that the property has never flooded. Didn't ask about the road but spoke to someone on the street fb group who wasn't aware there was even a flood risk issue .

Re surveyor unfortunately we used a family friend who isn't local so doesn't know about this road

I've ordered an additional flood report from a flood specialist surveyor so going to see what that says, depending on the outcome we will have to report it to the lender ... ! If this doesn't go ahead we lose our locked 4.01 rate :( and there's nothing else on the market we are keen on so feel like I am losing my mind.

I live in a high surface risk area. The problem for my road is when we have a hot dry summer followed by a heavy thunderstorm, like this summer, so our garden and road flooded. However, according to the neighbours, none of the houses have ever flooded and the water goes quite quickly. There's no evidence our house has ever flooded.

It's worth searching the street on the local FB groups and just a general Google of the area. We found out a fair bit from our local papers website.

Also our LA are well aware of the problem on my road and are taking steps to try and alleviate the rosk

That is reassuring, did this come up when you bought the place?

Hi you can see the maps yourself via this website
check-long-term-flood-risk.service.gov.uk/postcode

Yes, the 'high risk' came up on one the first searches we had back (the LA one I think). When I did some digging I came across some reports from our LA with the steps they are taking to minimise the risks. Since living here I've seen environmental agency staff around checking things out, especially when heavy rain is being predicted which is reassuring. The problem with past flooding was due to drains and tributaries becoming blocked so these are being maintained more often now.

We haven't had any trouble getting insurance although our neighbour said their premiums went up quite a bit in 2016 after the last major incident (I think a nearby bungalow and flats flooded that year) although no properties on our road did.

Yes I've looked at this , and the topography maps etc !

Mine comes up as a very high risk. However, it's raised significantly above street level as it was constructed with flood risk in mind; the entire area could be under 5 foot of water, people going to and fro in dinghies and it still wouldn't have made it to my door.