Buying on designated flood plain

vivatifosi

wannabedebtfree wrote: »

So if you're buying on top of a hill make sure its the apex!!!

I bought a house on top of a hill and now my fences blow down every Autumn in 60-80 mile an hour winds and the gable end blew off my neighbours roof! Bl**dy global warming!

Still, could be worst, as Guy pointed out, I could live in Sandbanks.

ixwood

Get a turbine!!

Badger_Lady

wannabedebtfree wrote:

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!!!

Sorry :-(

My grandmother's house had a front door with a corridor that led straight to the back door - when the rains started pouring down, she'd open them both and let it run away down the hill! Slightly bizarre arrangement, but she was happy :-)

In response to the comments above, apologies - I was generalising based on the fact that so many newbuild developments have made use of ground that was previously considered unsuitable for building on.

All my period homes have been sturdy, well built and well located; in comparison, the odd newbuild I've lived in has been flimsier and prone to flooding.

This does not in any way imply that "all old houses are perfect", or "all newbuilds are rubbish"! But when you have been told that your newbuild home is situatied on a flood plain, you realise that it's in the slightly less reliable category (along with all of its neighbours).

I agree that flooding ain't fun and is best avoided but, with the UK's current housing situation, we'd have some trouble if everyone suddenly fled from anything that might be a risk.

I saw a programme a few months ago (before the dramatic flooding), which made long-term predictions for the impact of global warming on property values. The conclusion was: don't buy anything on a flood plain, near a river or within 10 miles of the coast... on this lumpy little British island, that doesn't leave much property safe from the impact.

(they also said we should all have our floors tiled in every room, but I don't see that happening either...)

olly300

ixwood wrote: »

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.

Other countries build on flood plains and can build houses quite as stupidly as we do (i.e. not on stilts) however they seem prepared for their houses to flood.

I remember spending a winter holiday in Belgium (lowlands) in a house that had a cellar and it rained heavily for 3 days. Needless to say the cellar flooded but the house was equiped with a pump to pump the water out.

There is also new housing near me in the UK that is on a flood plain. (I'm not on the plain.) They are mostly blocks of flats and a few "town houses" but the properties have been built so the carpark/garage is at ground level so if their is flooding only the carpark/garage is flooded. The entrance to most of the buildings are up some stairs. The properties ages vary from the 70's to recent.

The problem is building regulations not forcing developers to ensure that the accommodation part of houses/flats are a few inches higher than ground level if they are building on a flood plain.

vivatifosi

olly300 wrote: »

The problem is building regulations not forcing developers to ensure that the accommodation part of houses/flats are a few inches higher than ground level if they are building on a flood plain.

Couldn't agree more. After all, much of Holland is built on flood plains and they can find sustainable solutions, so why can't we?

wymondham

occurances of flooding WILL increase as the government does not spend nearly enough on defences, as do the water companies (remember none of the recent flooding was from the sea, just rain!), so if your house is on a flood plain then you pays your money and takes your chances - as long as you know the score and can cope with the problems which will occur then no reason to not go for it.

adr0ck

pinkshoes wrote: »

i wouldn't touch a property on a flood plain, even if it's a non ground floor flat! Insurance will no doubt be steep (as mentioned by other poster), and then there's the access problems if it does flood...

if you really want it, then make sure you get it for a very low price!

take it your never going to London then

adr0ck

olly300 wrote: »

The problem is building regulations not forcing developers to ensure that the accommodation part of houses/flats are a few inches higher than ground level if they are building on a flood plain.

that would be the environment agencies job

when you build on a flood plain you have to have a flood consequences assessment carried out (costs about £10K - whether its for 1 house or 100's)

the EA then decide based on this FCA whether you can build (i.e. whether the risk is too great etc)

if they do decide you can build they ask for conditions to be put in the planning permission which usually include a minimum FFL (finished floor level) and a minimum road level

olly300

adr0ck wrote: »

that would be the environment agencies job

when you build on a flood plain you have to have a flood consequences assessment carried out (costs about £10K - whether its for 1 house or 100's)

the EA then decide based on this FCA whether you can build (i.e. whether the risk is too great etc)

if they do decide you can build they ask for conditions to be put in the planning permission which usually include a minimum FFL (finished floor level) and a minimum road level

Then the envirnoment agency is not doing their job properly. It's been widely reported that in one of the places where the housing was recently flooded, the housing was built in a field that was know to flood frequently even before the housing was built.

If the building regulations forced all new housing to be built 3 inches of the ground then whether the drains backed up due to heavy rain or the housing was near a small river then there wouldn't be such a significant problem. Of course if the rain was freaky like recently people would still be flooded, but the flooding I know that happened to older properties near me that are on the flood plain was a few inches.

adr0ck

local council can choose to ignore the EA's recommendation if they choose

you have to be careful about raising ground levels around new homes as you may be putting existing properties at more risk