Are property prices affected by predicted sea level rises?

[SweetSakura]

Just idly wondering really as we drove through an area predicted to be at significant risk from sea level rises based on modelling, but there are still lots of houses being built there. And I just wondered whether the predictions are affecting price /ease of selling or whether people are just hoping the modelling is very pessimistic?

I went on a river tour down to the Thames barrier some time ago run by an environmental charity who said that the barrier was going to fail as sea levels rise. I think that is the main flood protection for London but I guess something must be being done about that. And I guess that areas further along the Thames Estuary will then suffer far more.

The Florida keys is a perfect example. They’re constantly mopping up after successive storms and now plots lie empty as the insurance companies no longer pay out.
There are various museums and exhibits there that outline the conservation efforts for the native fauna and wildlife but draw no comparison to the huge gas guzzlers and disposable life outside their doors. It’s too contentious to mention climate change in the US, particularly in the South.

Ah that's interesting, I wondered about the keys as my teenage daughter follows some influencer who lives there and I was thinking they must be hugely vulnerable.

The mental disconnect thing happens here too. The people near us with the big fancy houses right down at sea level that all still seem to lead a lifestyle of very heavy conspicuous consumption - big SUVs, multiple foreign holidays, constant home renovations. I guess maybe the "ostrich" mentality applies to both buying at sea level and continuing to have a "high carbon" lifestyle. It's perhaps almost easier if you just pretend it isn't happening

YOLO! Unless the whole world comes together to reduce consumption and population growth, it’s fighting a losing battle.
For the world to unite, there needs to be a cataclysmic event directly attributed to climate change. This slow death of a thousand cuts, fires here, a flood there, a warm winter, won’t trigger a worthwhile response.

I followed the story about Briony Neirop-Reading a few years ago - she refused to leave her house until the ground actually fell away beneath it. I was surprised she had moved into another house on Beach Road. I remember at the time Briony's house went, looking at that map and thinking that semi probably didn't have long left. I wonder if this is inevitable or a result of deep sea dredging?

London is pretty scary because the tube floods. It did last year. This is new that the pumps cannot handle the volume of water.

Also agree that much housing is now being built on flood plains. Land that for years was not built on for good reason, now is. The buyers must be mad.

I didn't even think about the tube flooding

New builds will have a flood risk assessment. Possibly land raising etc. I won't buy in flood plain. No-one is safe from surface water though I imagine. Even if away from river and sea.

I think people will buy houses in flood risk/sea level risk areas until such time as insurers price it out of easy availability.
Then they will demand the govt step in (this is the case in areas of US NFIP).

And/Or until banks refuse to lend on them I guess @SaturdayGiraffe

We're about a mile inland from the Thames and up a hill but technically still floodplain. We've had no problems with insurance yet.
Developments are going up along the riverside all along the Thames estuary (at premium prices) which seems like madness.

Well there are certainly preparations being made in some parts of the country.

We live in Southsea which is the seaside bit of Portsmouth - we're about 300 metres from the beach and seafront.

They are carrying out work in anticipation of sea level rises - the Southsea sea defences improvements are costing in the region of £160million plus.

When they first proposed them 4-5 years ago I sat through various local meetings and there was quite a lot of opposition from people who were worried about their sea views being impacted. However there is a general acceptance that measures are needed. People still have memories of 2000 when there was major flooding here owing to excess rain and the failure of a pumping station.

It has impacted on the local housing - there are various roads nearer the seafront which were affected in which it is hard to get household insurance and so its harder to buy/sell and as a result these tend to be rental property and have gone into a decline.

However nearby they are alse building new homes/ converting buildings on the seafront to residential use which will sell at a premium so I guess they must be fairly confident that the defences will stop future flooding.

We had to switch our insurance when it came time to renew as we were told Hiscox no longer offers flood coverage. We're in London but outside the red underwater zone.

Oh that's interesting @southseajess yes I was wondering that, presumably developers are able to still get finance to develop there which indicates a reasonable degree of confidence that they will sell the properties (I guess developers only need to worry they will be sellable in the short to medium term).

I love Portsmouth & Southsea, but have to say I would be deterred from buying there by the flood maps!

I’ve just bought a house near a massive river, which I swore I’d never do 🤣. But neither the house nor the road has ever flooded. The river has steep embankments that were built up after bad floods in the 1950s - even then it didn’t flood where I am). It’s 3m above sea level in West Norfolk.

Obviously I thought long and hard about it, and yep it’s in the red zone on that scary climate map. But I’m not planning to stay here for more than 5-10 years, and I didn’t put all my resources into the house so I’m not totally screwed if it goes tits up.

I wouldn’t have bought it if it or the road had ever flooded before though.

The Norfolk red zone is really scary looking ! But yes i guess it's different if you can afford to lose it. I wonder if a lot of sea level /sea front properties are second/investment homes which is why people are more relaxed

Wr are looking to move in 2024 and a high priority is to move inland and away from flood zones. Currently on the coast, and while its nice to have a short walk to the beach, I'd rather be further away as climate change takes effect....

I don’t think so necessarily, not where I am anyway - I’m not in posh and pricey North Norfolk. Around here property prices are fairly low and there’s a lot of people who grew up nearby. I’m from Norfolk myself, just not this bit. I bought a teeny tiny house so I could live here but sort of hedge my bets financially, as I knew it was a bit risky.

@SweetSakura dont be deterred - Southsea will still be here for many years to come!

Looking at the flood defences website southseacoastalscheme.org.uk/ they state that 4,000 households would be affected if nothing is done but with the new defences these will be protected. I imagine that having the Naval base here means that we are higher up the priority list for the Government than many areas.