Flooding ins, penybontfawr Powys

nantg1

BEWARE OF BUYING A NEW PROPERTY IN PENYBONTFAWR IN POWYS[. If you are thinking of buying a new property in Penybontfawr in Powys make sure you look into the flooding reports of that area. There is a new property in Hirnant Road that a number of insurance companies will not offer cover on as it’s in a flood area. It’s a large newly built property on a small development and can be seen advertised by a number of agents. So beware, just check this aspect out first. As you could find yourself purchasing a property that you have difficulty getting insurance cover on.

Davesnave

In other words it's like quite a chunk of that village; in or very close to a Flood Zone 3.

https://naturalresources.wales/our-evidence-and-reports/maps/flood-risk-map/?lang=en

There must be dozens of Welsh villages like this and thousands of houses.

What made you pick on this one.? Is it that it's new? You can get just as flooded in an old house!

We advise people who come here that it's most important to investigate all aspects of a property, including the possibility of flooding, which is only one of many threats to buildings, old and new.

Naturally, human beings possessing fallibility, don't always do as advised.

I note it's an "exclusive" development, so people are free to exclude it from their purchase list, but honestly, you can't hope to hold everyone's hand on this.

Move on.

moneyistooshorttomention

I read OP's post as being astonishment/horror that building companies are building houses now (after all that recent flooding in Britain - and knowing very well about the insurance company stance on them) on flood risk land.

I must admit that does surprise me rather. I can understand how existing houses might have found themselves being in a "flood risk" area - ie because of changing weather patterns/other recent building/etc in the area. So - I would (did) check out my housebuying in case flood problems were likely to an existing house. I did, however, assume that builders would not now be building new houses somewhere they know very well is high flood risk (or ought to...). Looks like I was being a bit naive there - so I guess other people might be too....and just assume "Of course - I need to check out existing houses - but new ones should be okay - as "they" will have done the checking before building".

Yep...and then there's the fact that some local councillors aren't exactly very high calibre - ahem....and they mightnt do their homework (ie when it comes to planning applications). Of course some local councillors are good-quality/efficient/etc - but then there are the ones in it for personal "pomp and glory for their ego" reasons in some areas.....

(I have no idea about what any of the councillors in that particular area are like I hasten to add....).

I know...I know...:o....still obviously got more "faith in human nature" than is warranted by the facts...:(

moneyistooshorttomention

Just been googling and I can see its a small village from the fact its Council is a Community Council.

Their webpage is https://www.penybontfawrvillage.org.uk/page16.html

and you will be able to check there re the status of planning applications that have been made recently and minutes of their meetings.

moneyistooshorttomention

I have just come across details of a new scheme that should protect home-owners from spiralling premiums dealing with flood risk cover.

It's called Flood Re and comes into effect this month and covers both buildings and contents insurance. The gist of it is that a households normal insurance company can "hive off" the flood part of any claim to this scheme if they are in a high risk area. This should, hopefully, reduce the amount of premium affected householders have to pay.

Relevant to this thread is that I noticed that there are various exclusions to this scheme. Amongst these exclusions are properties built since 2009. The official reasoning for that is and I quote "because the government and insurers want to discourage developers from building on flood plains".

In other words - that translates into = the government and insurers expect developers to exercise a "duty of care" as from when it could "reasonably have been known" of the risk of flooding (which they seem to have identified as 2009) and not build on flood risk areas in the first place - as from 7 years ago.

Hmmmmmm.....:cool:

....and that brings me round to wondering whether developers that do this might be able to be sued by any home-owner experiencing flooding problems in a property that the developer built subsequent to 2009......

....and the further thought of wondering what impact this might have on local councillors that approve planning applications on such sites......

Hmmm....

Right now - if I were in either position (developer or councillors) I would be reviewing my own insurance cover - with the words "contingency funding" firmly at the front of my mind.

nantg1

From what I hear, the developer of these new executive homes in Penybonfawr is probably not interested in any future claims for flood risk as the business may well be wound up as soon as this last house is sold. This happens all the time by many unscrupulous builders, makes a packet and then leaves the poor unsuspecting new house owner to pick up the pieces.

booksurr

nantg1 wrote: »

From what I hear, the developer of these new executive homes in Penybonfawr is probably not interested in any future claims for flood risk as the business may well be wound up as soon as this last house is sold. This happens all the time by many unscrupulous builders, makes a packet and then leaves the poor unsuspecting new house owner to pick up the pieces.

so are you posting because of personal animosity then given you have now enabled identification of the developer and cast aspersions about them?

if it bothers you that much why not picket the property so you can inform anyone who looks round on a viewing?

frugalsmurf

You would know at the point of sale whether you're in a flood area (we did)
You make that choice whether you can insure it /want to buy.

I suspect this thread has a motive as its specifically talking about one house area.
That's not what mse is for.

moneyistooshorttomention

nantg1 wrote: »

From what I hear, the developer of these new executive homes in Penybonfawr is probably not interested in any future claims for flood risk as the business may well be wound up as soon as this last house is sold. This happens all the time by many unscrupulous builders, makes a packet and then leaves the poor unsuspecting new house owner to pick up the pieces.

Have you checked out what the position would be re that developer having "continuing legal liability"? There ought to be (and I would have thought, consequently, there would be....) something in law that still lays the onus on that developer to deal with any consequences from the time this was their legal responsibility.

When it comes to personal injury, for instance, then the liability on anyone injuring someone else (eg an employer injuring an employee of theirs by taking insufficient care about their work conditions) dates as from when they could be deemed to have "reasonable" proveable likelihood of knowing they might injure the person concerned if they didnt amend their practices. the phrase is "duty of care" - as in employers have a duty of care to their employees. That sort of responsibility on a personal level also has recently been deemed to apply more widely (eg women successfully making legal claims against a man for sleeping with them when he could "reasonably" have been expected to know he had some infectious illness of a sexually-transmittable nature).

Hence - the duty to demonstate "duty of care" on a personal level is now pretty well-known and widespread.

I would think it must apply in other contexts too...

I would have thought developers must have an equivalent "duty of care" and that duty of care would either continue to be carried by them (even if they subsequently sell the business on) on the one hand or the new owner of their business acquires that "duty of care" from them in the course of the purchase on the other hand. Most likely - the original developer still has to retain their "duty of care".

Worth checking up on to see if that might be the case that developers do have a "duty of care"...

Davesnave

booksurr wrote: »

if it bothers you that much why not picket the property so you can inform anyone who looks round on a viewing?

Much easier to sit anonymously at a keyboard and make claims without any detail to back them up.

If I could be bothered, I could probably find the planning application and look at the decision process behind the approval, but why should I, when it's too much trouble for the OP?

moneyistooshorttomention

I think I found details online at that Community Council website. If it is the property I think it is - then there is a public footpath running immediately alongside the site that the Council says must not be affected by this house and believe will not be affected.

If I've correctly identified which property it is - then a possibility is that this footpath has been blocked (despite the Council telling them clearly they weren't to do so).

This may be what has happened and it may be someone has used undue influence on the Community Council not to "whack them across the knuckles" about it.

Just hazarding a guess what the problem might be. Apart from any poor home-owners falling foul of flood risk on a property built since 2009.