Problems on survey: roof/ flood risk

[houseofwater]

I’m buying a house, my first time doing this but others in family that are moving with me have done it before. The survey has been done and it’s come back with some problems.

The big ones are:

1	Lots to look into with the roof, they expect this to need scaffolding and it’s a tall building. 

2	Medium risk of surface water flooding 1%-3.3% risk a year

This is one of the only houses that would be big enough for our family in the area, there are other similar houses in the same area but the survey says the problems are typical for a building of this age and build. Not old, early 2000.

Current owners are getting quotes for remedial work for roof but I don’t think they are expecting to do anywhere near the work suggested on the survey which seems like quite serious stuff. I don’t think they are getting scaffolding and they think it will be done by February/ March.

I’m desperate to move so worried about making the wrong choice in a hurry. Any advice? I’ve never done this before and it’s such a massive choice!

This should hopefully be the last move we do so I want to get it right

The roof can be fixed, but I’d never buy a property that’s a flood risk. You’ll find it hard to get insurance - and even harder to reinsure if you get flooded once. Floods will become more common, and the stress of wondering whether your house will flood with every storm would make me run a mile.

This was my initially reaction too, but I've checked a few very sensible people I knows postcodes and they have also come up with an even higher risk of surface water flooding.

I don't know if they know this or it's a new statistic? I would definitely be worried if it was a river close by. I don't understand the risks with surface water so much. I know it's about drainage and sudden rainfall.

Get on the phone and talk to your solicitor / surveyor, sometimes a chat can clarify these issues, I was told that everywhere is at risk of some sort of flooding and what level of risk is acceptable

I agree that a roof is usually fixable, make sure you factor that into the costs

I would avoid that level of flood risk. Not least because you’d struggle to sell it if you ever wanted to.

Thank you all, I'm definitely going to call on Monday. Definitely not a risk I feel good about taking after thinking about it today. Quite gutted feel like I'm just looking for information to confirm it's not right now. I thought it was THE house! How does anyone manage this!!

there's a government website you can check flood risk on with your postcode

it breaks it down by categories , surface river etc

thousands and thousands of homes are now medium risk surface water flooding
half of london is

check your current postcode you may find you already are

it's a new thing with all the recent flash flooding I know this due to it being flagged on my recent home insurance

def check before ruling house
check-long-term-flood-risk.service.gov.uk/risk#

We're only having new soffits and gutters, and one quote we had said they would need to use scaffolding. The lot we chose are using ladders.😂

What do they mean by 'lots to look into with the roof'?

This is the link I found when I started to look into it, it's the medium level surface water flood risk on here. I've read all of it and still feel confused.

I don't want to take the risk but half of London would be a lot places to rule out based on this. My current house is the lowest for all the flood risks

My last house is listed as being very high flood risk but in the 25 years i lived there.it.never flooded.

The parapets are in need of repairs in a few different ways, some lead to be replaced and a possibility that it could leak if not sorted asap

The gutters need replacing

Dormer render is in bad condition

The loft has no ventilation and there's potential problems that need to be checked for with that as well as ventilation installed. So checking for rot and the small possibility of wood worm

There's a decorative chimney stack that needs or will soon need maintenance as it's leaning but within tolerance now

There's some smaller things on the lower roof like no over hang at a certain point

These are the main points but not all

It's a tall building with three floors so not sure a ladder would do it

What was resale like?

Unless you have a good amount of cash to fix any problems, I’d back out. Also, who else are you buying this property with?

It wasn't an issue. Buyer didn't mention it.

This is really surprising to me! Thank you

If it were just the roof problems I thought getting quotes to fix it and then reducing the price would be a good option if the sellers were up for that, but the flooding risk is different. Can't negotiate the house onto a different flood risk, ha!

@houseofwater

I am a flood risk engineer. I work for the Environment Agency - we produce the flood risk maps linked above and manage most of the long term flood risk in England.

I'm not based in London, so I have no local knowledge and can only access what is on the public maps . You might want to email [email protected] with your query and ask for it to be directed to the local Customers and Engagement team - include the postcode and/or grid reference.

Actually, ignore me, it's a medium risk of surface water you've got.

Surface water is water that can't drain away from roads etc because the drains are full. We don't deal with that. Storms are getting more frequent though, and drainage function depends heavily on the drains being kept clear, as well as how big it is in the first place and how heavy the storm is. Local authority drainage maintenance is notoriously poor!

I'd contact the local authority and ask them what their maintenance strategy is for the highway drainage in the area, and if there is anything in their Strategic Flood Risk Assessment to address the surface water risk.

@IbizaToTheNorfolkBroads Thank you!

There is a drain down the road from us that has been flooding quite badly for years and it's only just been sorted out so I have very little faith in the local authority even if they have a plan. We are in a very flat Norfolk boards like area. I found your name very funny given that.

I wouldn't buy the house , the flood risk would be enough to put me off but the problems with the roof will be significant , worrying and expensive to repair . All houses need a waterproof hat and boots .

Just typed a postcode up the road from me into that website and it came back with ‘very low risk’.
The property flooded badly on New Years Eve. It has flooded several times in the last 17 years that I have lived here, so I am dubious about the accuracy.

This is so interesting, makes me feel less secure about my current apparently low risk house!

This is it isn't it; hats and boots are essential! Such a cute way to think of a house too. I think I'm going to have to start asking how do I get over my perfect house turning out not to be perfect at all

@houseofwater Don't worry , something better (structurally sound and waterproof) will come along and you will be so pleased you waited .

I've spoken to the surveyor, they seemed to think the risk of flooding was more to the surrounding access roads and not the house. That this was typical of areas that had been built up recently (there's a new development over the other side of the main road which is close by). If there is no history of flooding he wouldn't for see an issue in the future.

I'm not quite sure what to think now, that sounds like exactly what I wanted to hear but I still feel uneasy.

Obviously next step is to check the history of flooding but even if that's fine I'm not sure what to think!

What did you end up doing @houseofwater ?