Would you buy if house was flooded?

daviduk1976

We're just in the final decorating stages before we put the place up for sale.


We bought the property 13 years ago. 2 years prior the property was flooded. It didn't bother us as long as we were able to get home insurance etc. The reason for flooding was human error apparently.....odd I know!


We tried to sell a few years ago, but flooding became an issue for the buyers. We stayed put and did a loft conversion.


As you remember a lot of the south of the UK was flooded back in 2013/14. Luckily we were fine, and we didn't once go onto the 2nd alert. (Out of 3) In the time we have lived here, we have only had 3 alerts for flooding (1st). The local Environmental agency has put in money and work to make the area we live in safer, and they do not expect flooding in my area.




My question is do I tell buyers on the first visit what happened, why and what they have done to resolve the issue?


I am planning on selling the property without a high street agency. I will also provide a property/local area pack to all viewers which includes all the up to date relevant stuff on the flood works etc.


What do you think?


Thanks in advance.




(Ps 3 new families have moved into our street in last 12 months, all houses sold in a week!, the market has calmed down in my area....I just want to do the best I can for my buyers and us!)

EverGreen_2

Probably the prospective buyers will come from your area or from around there. They are expected to do their own search and homework. They will get the basic information, including flooding risk, before the viewing. Their solicitors will check and search on their behalf. In my views, do not volunteer telling buyers this or that. This may scare some buyers specially if they are FTB. If they ask you questions then answer honestly. I am really not sure but the house selling report may have a question or a point about flood risk.


Good luck

rosie383

I think you need to try to find out exactly what was the cause of the flood. If it was human error, then what relevance has that now? We had a flood in our home about 8 years ago because a heating engineer had neglected to replace the boiler thermostat after servicing a back boiler. This caused the plastic hot water tank (who knew such a thing existed?) in the loft to melt and the water cascaded through the ceilings bringing them down and the place was a mess and needed new ceilings, new floors etc.
BUT it would never occur to me to tell prospective viewers about it. It has no impact on their future ownership as the tank was replaced with a robust metal one. I declared it on the house insurance for as many years as was necessary, but only as a claim on the insurance, giving details of course. But now if I was to fill in an insurance form and it asked if the house had ever been flooded, or if it sits on a flood plain, then no would be the answer. If someone runs a bath and it overflows or the washing machine floods the kitchen floor, it's a world apart from having flooding due to heavy rain.

Davesnave

An historic flood in the year 2000 has little bearing now, especially if not repeated in 2013/2014.

What people will want to know is where your small area sits on the Environment Agency Flood Map and whether your insurance premiums are loaded due to flood risk.


Neither of these things should be brought up by you, however, they are matters which you should address only if questioned. A 'pack' which highlights this as a matter of particular interest is not the best of ideas.

Are you sure you're cut out for selling your own property?

rosie383

I agree with Davesnave. Why highlight anything like that? If you are going to sell your house yourself, a pack is not necessary. EA info for viewers contains the details which are on Rightmove and Zoopla and nothing more. Any other info will come through searches.

jjlandlord

If, to your knowledge, the house was flooded once 15 years ago, before you even owned it, and because of a "human error" (Does that mean bath tab left running / escape of water?) I would not say anything unless specifically asked. And then I would make sure to qualify my answer with the cause and the date.

daviduk1976

Thanks for the replys


The area I live is a flood risk area, and when we tried to sell last time, it was always coming up (as it should) on purchasers searches etc. (we had 3 people who pulled out due to the flood risk) I just don't want to waste money on finding our rental, and also on prospective purchasers wasting time and money also.

AdrianC

"Human error", without more detail, could cover a multitude of sins - I presume it wasn't a plumbing issue, but external - flooding from a river or similar? So "human error" - somebody didn't manage the flood defences correctly?

If so, and the flood defences have since been upgraded, no reason not to be utterly honest and upfront. Assume that it's going to come out in the searches. If that scares a buyer off, then they'd have been scared off when they found out anyway, further down the line and causing more hassle and expense for everybody.

NOTHING is unsellable, but the price might take a small ding.

rosie383

If it was an external flood then that is completely different and I agree with Adrian C. Better to tell people the positives before they and you invest time, money and emotion.
But I would find out for definite about the flood in the property. If it was internal, then it is completely irrelevant.

Jhoney_2

Was there flooding in London in the last !0-15 years? I don't recall that.

Gonzo1987

My understanding was if you where of something that could adversely affect someone's decision to view (not even buy) a property you had to declare it. Most people will be from the same area and probably won't be phased, it happened so long ago ,but I think you have a duty to tell them.

although I agree what might affect someone might not affect another.

Your agent should ask you if you're aware of anything like that anyway.