High risk of flooding from surface water

[SurfaceWater]

We had an offer accepted to buy a property on Monday.

Just filling out the paperwork for the sale of our current house, which asked for the flood risk as given by the gov website, so whilst there we looked up the risk for the property we want to buy, and it came back high risk for flooding from surface water. But it says there's a low chance of flooding up to 20cm.

Low risk from any other flooding (it's not near any rivers, streams etc).

Looking at the neighbouring properties, in fact all other properties on the street, and they're mostly low risk, with one next door being medium.

Have also looked at the surface water map but to be honest I'm not sure how much we can glean from that - can't zoom in enough to pinpoint this particular property but yes can see there is a small patch of dark blue/ high risk.

I don't really know how to proceed now - we've spoken to the agent who weren't aware of this and are getting back to us. We've obviously enquired about any history of flooding and asked seller to disclose, but how reliable that will be I don't know? Google also suggests talking to neighbours/ locals but given it's only this house on the whole street that seems to have the high risk I'm not sure what good that will do - also how, just go and knock on their doors? I know the seller is really friendly with those next door on both sides so how honest are they likely to be?

We're cash buyers so no mortgage implications, but obviously there's a concern about insurance. And obviously as climate change progresses, how much more of a risk is there?

I'm mostly just baffled why this particular property is high when none of the others are - it's in the middle, not at the bottom of a hill, no lower than any of the others.

Edit - forgot to say, I guess I'm asking what would you do, what additional steps should we take? I've never sold/ bought before - I moved in with DH who bought this as a first time buyer, we've been here ever since.

You can use the (free) Area360 Chrome extension on RM to see the initial flood risk of a property (plus other extra data) if that's of use.

chromewebstore.google.com/detail/area360-property-data-for/fmkcdnhkhfnbaomihadamoendclmjglb?hl=en-GB

^

I think you've done the right thing. The maps are remarkably accurate these days.

We have one house on our road that floods due to surface water and it's utterly miserable for them. The rest of the houses look to be on exactly the same level but they don't flood, it's just the one house and it shows on the map.

My house was re-coded a couple of years ago. high risk for surface water flooding. I wasn't advised. the only way I found out was through higher insurance premiums. I contacted the national environment agency as I wasn't sure where to go and they sent me a very long complicated email. I think it is an error but it seems very complicated to sort out. I also want a good look at the detail and assumptions on the maps but am not being offered that yet. It is at house level, not postcode.

I kind of think you have overreacted being in a house myself that has this listing. I thought it must be a mistake when I looked it up as we never have anything near flooding round here. The surveyor mentioned it when he came but didnt make it a big deal. But obvs if you aren't comfortable then the right decision.

I don't agree they're accurate. My.
House has never flooded and I've lived here 27 years since it was built. In that time there has been flooding in the village. Just once. Prior to that, it was the 1960s. There have been remedy works. In my situation, I believe it to be a total over reaction, it is not accurate.

It's fair enough to think it's an overreaction - very possibly it is. But we were going to be spending literally every penny we have or are likely to have for the next few years at least on a house that was over our initial budget and then needs a lot of work once we get there. We've had flooding in our town/ area as recently as 2 months ago - admittedly not on this particular road - and climate change is only going to make things worse. We just didn't feel comfortable with it, and easier to pull out now than down the line when we've put everyone through a lot more stress.

Tell me you don't know anything about statistics and probability without telling me you don't know anything about statistics and probability.

A high risk of flooding doesn't mean it will flood, it means there is a high chance it might. It could go 40 years with nothing and then do 3 years in a row. Statistics can be funny like that. Especially with a sample set of 1.

It's a bit like the my old gran smoked 40 woodbines a day and lived fine til she was 90 argument. Yes, she may well have. But once you extend the sample set to 10000 people things look very different.

There are also two different things to consider. The first is the actual flood if and when it happens. The other is the impact of the flood risk label. The risk assessment will impact the houses value significantly as well as things like the insurance possibilities and mortgage costs/availability. Not only that, but the risks are viewed to be increasing over time, so that works against you as well.

Would I say never by a house that was at high risk ? Not necessarily. But you need to be aware what you are getting into unless you like surprises which can considerably impact your life.

I agree, it's not worth the risk. Our previous property had never flooded and we ignored the information. We ended up flooded twice, thankfully we sold it to someone who wanted it for an airbnb as it was a beautiful house in a tourist location. He wasn't interested in the flood history although we were totally honest, and we heard from friends recently, it was again flooded during Storm Bert. Also once we sold, the EA recategorised it all at much higher risk. We now live on a ridge with very low risk from all types of flooding. Things are changing and places that haven't flooding before, now are. I wouldn't wish that on anyone, it was a totally horrific experience, always on edge when storms are forecast, and I had PTSD a good year afterwards even after moving. You need to feel safe in your home.

Cool plugin. Not seen that one before.

Is your report by groundsure or landmark? You can go back to the solicitor and ask them to make further enquiries through your search company. Failing that contact groundsure or landmark and they will help. They will explain why the conclusions have been drawn.
I used to working property searches.

Actually I'm a graduate mathematician, so statistics are no issue to me at all. No need to be so snarky. I have a lot of issues about how the re-banding has been handled. My initial research brought up a lot of things that as an experienced householder I was not aware of so posted on here to be helpful. The next investigation steps for me are going to be very time consuming.