New build flooding issue/legal issue?

[Iamwearingmyglasses]

Does anyone know what happens in this situation.

We brought a new build in the country nearly 3 years ago and during the 2 years snagging we continuously mentioned the garden being very very wet, flooding with standing water after rain, nearby brook flooding us and then not draining for several days; leaving us with a boggy, swamp of a garden. It’s NEVER dry. Even after 2/3weeks of straight dry weather and sunshine, it’s still soggy, damp and unusable. We’ve sent many complaints by email and haven’t had much back until recently.

turns out the contractors went into liquidation a while ago, and they’ve been (apparently) sending our contractors to investigate; the OG contractors should have put top soil on top of the clay in the garden, but they’ve suspect they have not done this before putting down turf.

now, they also suspect (has been confirmed by someone on the local council) that when the planning was in motion for the development it was originally rejected because of the severe flooding the land gets regularly. This was later appealed and a new council member claimed the area does not flood and it was then accepted and (obviously) built on. There’s also an issue with footpath sizes but that is a whole separate issue i won’t go into.

im just wondering what happens in this situation. We’re new to the area and wasnt aware of it being a flood risk to now be told 3 years later that it is?!

we’ve received a questionnaire as have all other residents, but what will actually happen? I don’t see how this will get resolved. Is there anything legal they have to act on?

If the house hasn’t flooded yet and you just have a wet garden I’d take advantage of the summer and try and sell it.

Did it not come up in your solicitor searches because usually they check the local water authority flood maps, you can check them yourself now, what does it say?

https://flood-map-for-planning.service.gov.uk/

The site says we are not a flood risk, but shows the brook travelling right by our house, which had broke on a number of occasions and flooded our house; so much so it flooded the downstairs of our next door neighbours (we had got sandbags by then and builder had help use our garden furniture to redirect the water out onto the road

Could you put in French drains?

This needs a soak away. It is becoming all too common on new builds. The boxes fill with water and slowly soak away, stopping the water rising to the garden. The membrane keeps the box clean and stops it silting up.

These are pics from a gardening group I belong to.

If you search for new build garden soak away you’ll find lots of companies selling this.