Shall I buy a house which has susceptibility of groundwater flooding?

manan.shah.82

Guys,

We are planning to buy a house but flood report has given 'High' rating for susceptibility to groundwater flooding in the search area based on the underlying geological conditions.

There is no risk for flood (neither Zone 3 nor Zone 2 flooding) and it is not within range or area which benefits from flood defence but there is risk of surface water flooding.

Though property is not in flood risk area but , I think, it's within 0.5 or maximum 1 mile away from the region which benefits from flood defences and extent of extreme flood (I derived this information using the graphs on environment agency's website).

We liked the house but unfortunately flood report is bit of concerned to me because of my lack of knowledge. So I need your help and experience in making the final decision.

Thank you.

dorset_nurse

Its your choice. Look at routes likely to flood and weigh up if you would be ok with having to take a detour to get home if there should be a flood. If you think the risks are worth taking then go for it.
I personally wouldn't.

Marco12452

You need to take into account that the insurance companies will look at your postcode, not the underlying facts that your property might be on higher ground in the region. If the postcode pops up on their systems showing a flood risk this would bump up the premiums.

From your explanation it sounds like you don't have the risk of needing to carry out regular fllod damage repairs or install defences, but this will not show up on insurance details.

Check out what a policy would cost first as this will of course be an annual expense.

welshman01

NO NO NO NO NO

Why would you want to take a risk like that?

We were flooded and had to live in hotels and temp accom for almost a year. Our possessions were ruined along with sentimental stuff the insurance company cannot replace.

Stay well away - just in case!

somethingcorporate

Always a tough one. If you go by those geological maps half of most cities are at risk. If it genuinely has a high chance of flooding I'd not do it - we were out of our house for 6 months due to a burst pipe and the horror stories that associate flooding can be far far worse as welshman01 suggests.

sunshinetours

Have you asked the vendor if they have ever flooded? Do you know anyone else in local area. Ask neighbours? Also as suggested get an insurance quote

Problem is some of these general searches throw up some unusual generalised results that may have no bearing on reality so you could give up on a dream house over a "computer says no" type message

manan.shah.82

Guys thank you very much for all your replies.

Vendor is saying she has not faced any issue since 1982 when she occupied the house.

I compared the insurance quote on moneysupermarket.com and quite a few companies are offering insurance around £250 for this house. But when I checked with Aviva or DiretLine there quote is whooping £900; I was expecting high quote from Aviva/Directline but £900 is too much.

I checked insurance price on other houses which are more than 5-10 miles from this house (there is no river or anything in that area but again Im not sure how safe that area is) but premium came around same or 50 quid less.

Hope based on this extra information is useful to give me suggestion.

Thank you very very much.

megzmam

welshman01 wrote: »

NO NO NO NO NO

Why would you want to take a risk like that?

We were flooded and had to live in hotels and temp accom for almost a year. Our possessions were ruined along with sentimental stuff the insurance company cannot replace.

Stay well away - just in case!

i have to agree with welshman if theres a risk of floodibng i wouldn't go near it with the proverbial 10 foot bargepole. we flooded in 2007 and were out of our home for well over a year, we struggled after that to sell it . . . . . obviously!!
fast forward to 2011 and houses around us were starting to sell think people were thinking the risk was a lot less now after river dredging and pumps being installed etc ;plus the fact they are fairly newish houses (built in the 90's) going for a song! we decided to test water (excuse the pun) and put our house up for sale in february and we moved in may. . . . . to a house at top of a hill and with no known flod risks.
but after seeing our local news this morning people were hit with flash flooding due to terrible thunderstorms yesterday and i suppose that could happen anywhere whether or not its in a flood plain.
sure searches will throw up plenty of information and as someones already suggested ask neighbours etc.
good luck x