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HappyFrog
Posts: 37 Forumite
Good evening everyone. Just after some general advice on the following:
We are looking to purchase a property in Staines-upon-Thames or nearby, but there seem to be whole swathes of the area that are subject to high flood risk, restricting our possible options quite significantly. Are we being over cautious by ruling out any property that is in a flood risk area? Clearly there are a lot of people living there, and we quite like the look of the area...
Thanks
We are looking to purchase a property in Staines-upon-Thames or nearby, but there seem to be whole swathes of the area that are subject to high flood risk, restricting our possible options quite significantly. Are we being over cautious by ruling out any property that is in a flood risk area? Clearly there are a lot of people living there, and we quite like the look of the area...
Thanks
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Comments
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My parents live nearby in Chertsey (on a hill) I remember the recent floods friends had to rescued in a boat.
I would be cautious buying a house check how close to the river it is look up which roads were flooded and do your research. Some places were fine but others were really bad. The levels covered the outside area in the slug and lettuce next to the bridge.0 -
As with everything, it depends precisely where you are looking at as to whether flooding will be an issue. I was in the Shepperton area for the floods in 2014, and I would say any houses in the area that didn't flood then would be highly unlikely to flood now. But when they flooded, they really flooded.
Obviously property near the Thames is the most likely to have problems but there are some other flood hot spots (wet spots?). In Staines you also have the rivers Wraysbury and Colne to contend with as well as the Thames. There are also countless small tributaries that run into the Thames, many of which have been buried or almost forgotten about over the years and only resurfaced during the flooding.
Another thing to consider is access after a flood. Below is a picture of one of two roads that lead to the towpath where there are a number of houses. both roads were flooded but many of the houses weren't. However unless you had a 4x4 with a snorkel you were totally cut off and the roads remained that way for several weeks.
The Thames supposed to be about 0.5km down this road. Some people did try and walk it in waders but gave up: Note the 3 foot posts that run the length of the road, disappearing under the water!
You will find the full picture here: Surrey local flood risk management strategy
I know this looks like all doom and gloom, but the flooding in the area in 2014 was extreme and also predictable and most of the flood plain has not been built on, few properties were impacted by it all. Do a bit of research, ask the right questions and apply some common sense and you will be fine.
SP
(If you like pictures of floods, here are lots more I took at the time.)Come on people, it's not difficult: lose means to be unable to find, loose means not being fixed in place. So if you have a hole in your pocket you might lose your loose change.0 -
i have owned property in Staines since 1991. It is in flood zone 3 (high risk). My actual building has never flooded, BUT that is because I was a) lucky and b) had undertaken micro level research on the topography of the immediate area so the slight rise on which I'm built saved me and I became an island well inside the blue shaded area on the map
yes it would be foolish not to consider the flood risk, but do not take the mapping as being a gospel prediction of where and when the waters will come.
also something few outside the area understand, many of those who were flooded was not as a result of the 3 named rivers. It was as a result of minor streams and ditches being unable to drain sodden ground as more and more rain fell, called "pluvial flooding", so distance from "a river" is not the main issue. For example the houses in Laleham Rd 20 yards from the Thames bank were dry, the houses on the opposite bank were flooded, not by the river, but by water running downslope off the open land behind them (the mead lake open space) and across the Chertsey Rd (which was closed to traffic as a result). Those houses had defences planned for the river, not an assault from the rear!
The area that the TV cameras showed in 2014 was nothing to do with the rivers, but was a "small" stream that burst and inundated the area around Pooley Green0 -
There might be a clue in the name of Staines-upon-Thames as to why there's flood risks in the area...
A large amount of money has been spent mitigating flooding risk since the 2014 floods, but all that can really be done is give high water levels a bit of a hint that they'd rather go elsewhere.0 -
Why it was ever called Upon-Thames I'll never know.
Anyone in the area still calls it just 'Staines'.0 -
Why it was ever called Upon-Thames I'll never know.
Anyone in the area still calls it just 'Staines'.
The same goes for those outside the area too. We all know of the Staines Massive (googling suggests this is actually an attempt to rebrand post-Ali G, but obviously only the OP has fallen for it).0 -
The same goes for those outside the area too. We all know of the Staines Massive (googling suggests this is actually an attempt to rebrand post-Ali G, but obviously only the OP has fallen for it).
Yep see Walton has always been Walton-on-Thames mainly due to there being another Walton up north but Staines, there are no words.0
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