Buying on designated flood plain

Kez100

If there is a market crash and a glut of property for sale then it will be these sort of properties that are the very last to sell and, hence, have the most to lose. At present, I would run a mile from it. It's supposed to be a home not a potential noose - with rising waters, insurances, and a potential in a market fall - it would be too risky for me.

ixwood

Cos they used to buid houses in sensible places. i.e. not where it's liably to flood. Recent builds have to built whereever they can get the land, as most/all the (available) prime land has long been built on.

Doozergirl

ixwood wrote: »

Cos they used to buid houses in sensible places. i.e. not where it's liably to flood. Recent builds have to built whereever they can get the land, as most/all the (available) prime land has long been built on.

Have you thought that comment through properly?! Yes they do build on flood plains now but I can promise you that many, many thousands of old houses are on even more obvious flood plains!

When towns and villages were settlements, people naturally chose to be near water because they needed it for everyday living and for industry.

Contrary to popular opinion, the pre-war generations, however many of them you want to include, (and however stupid planners may appear to be now) they did not run around with clever hats on, being polite to each other, building better houses in more sensible locations.

ixwood

I stand corrected.

There seemed to be a lot of new houses under water in the last lot though. Although I wasn't paying much attention to that at the time, so could be wrong there.

My 200 year house on a hill is fine with me.

Doozergirl

ixwood wrote: »

My 200 year house on a hill is fine with me.

Well, the bloke that built your was was clever. :cool:

My In Laws were on holiday when we had floods in Worcestershire. They live in an area of town called 'Hill Top'. They kept seeing the news and phoning up to ask if their house was alright. My kids have their genes :eek:

epz_2

ceridwen wrote: »

Query particularly to Badger_Lady and ixwood - but anyone else feel free to answer -

Why the comment re "only way to be safe from flooding is to buy 100 year old house at top of hill" - why 100 years old/older property? Is that because you feel if it hadnt flooded by by now then it never would? How would you know if it had ever flooded since it was built?

simple really, a century ago there wasnt as much restrictions on building on greenfield sites etc so you could build on the top of a hill rather than reclaimed land that used to be a swamp.

a generalisation but most of the places that are flooding have also usually flooded in the last 50 years.

oh and a 1-72 chance with a £30k+ bill to repair means a substantial risk to the insurer and frankly with the weather these days im guessing the odds are way worse.

pboae

I'd be less concerned that it is a flood plain, and more worried that it has flooded before. My workplace flooded for the first time in those rains, and the remedial works include moving as many of the services above ground as possible, on the grounds that if it has happened once it may well happen again.

If the block flooded badly your flat would be uninhabitable, even if it wasn't directly affected as the utilities would still be off. Plus , there is the stench from the flood waters below to consider. It's not pleasant.

The insurance premium for it will rocket (yes everyone's premiums are likely to go up, but a proven risk will always cost substanially more).

I guess if the price is low enough, there will always be someone who will buy it, but I wouldn't touch it.

wannabedebtfree_2

Badger_Lady wrote: »

Remember, this has been an extreme year - the only way to ensure you're 99% safe from floods is to buy a 100-year-old house on top of a big hill.

Don't be scared off, MLE - just check that you're paying the right price and happy with the level of risk.

Actually, my friend has a house up a steep hill, and its a few hundred years old and last year when we had torrential rain the water swooshed down the hill from all the fields and straight through her house!!! So if you're buying on top of a hill make sure its the apex!!!

dragonsoup

ixwood wrote: »

My 200 year house on a hill is fine with me.

Yes mine is fine by me too.

Badger_Lady wrote: »

Remember, this has been an extreme year - the only way to ensure you're 99% safe from floods is to buy a 100-year-old house on top of a big hill.

Don't be scared off, MLE - just check that you're paying the right price and happy with the level of risk.

The trouble is it looks very likely that we are in for more "extreme years" in the future. I would definitely be put off buying anything on a flood plain.

Guy_Montag

I'd also suggest you don't spend umpteen million on a house on the Sandbanks near Poole.