Selling house - some garden flooding a few years ago - dilemma

ladymarmalade222

Yes I would totally agree the op does not need to declare their "puddle".

I was just putting it into context of what we are discovering now and that our sellers did not answer yes on the form. Whether they were correct in answering yes I feel it is a very woolly area. I do think morally it should have been discussed though.

Xx

AnotherJoe

busy_dad wrote: »

Thanks for all of your replies - sounds like I am over thinking things. Obviously it wasn't caused by river/streams but the property form does ask if it is surface water or ground water amongst other things so this is why I thought it could be classed under this.

Is it worth double checking with my solicitor on the definition or would this be counter productive with the solicitor erring on the side of caution and advising me to declare it?

Absolutely not. Talk about creating trouble ! Once you ask that to a solicitor you can't unask it.

:eek::eek::eek::eek::eek:

it's a puddle.

Davesnave

Cakeguts wrote: »

If you are really worried get someone to put some drainage into the garden and then it won't ever happen again.

This is the lowest part of the garden, so if drainage was installed, where would it drain to?

Just to add, I agree, it was a bit of standing water, not uncommon in thousands of gardens in 2012.

moneyistooshorttomention

From facts given - I'd say OP had a one-off temporary puddle on the one hand. LadyMarmalade's seller should have declared the property floods on the other hand.

I guess it's the difference between:

- OP's situation = shrug shoulders and not be bothered

- Lady Marmalade's situation = bl*ody try-on merchant of a vendor and wonder whether to bring a claim against them for misrepresentation (ie because it is very noticeable and is regular). I'd be livid in her position.

ladymarmalade222

When one of the neighbours yesterday asked why we were unaware of the flood issues it suddenly dawned on me that my insurance could also be invalid as when we were exchanging we were unaware of any of these issues so we honestly answered no to any flood questions. I really don't know where we stand on this now.

It looks like this house got off lightly compared to the other 3 but I will never know as it has been kept very quiet. I am unsure if there was any damage and they dealt with it without a claim or whether it did not encroach the house.

Shortly after I moved in I discovered we were in a higher band. The next door neighbour then explained about the flooding and they managed to get moved down a band. We applied to VOA and they have refused as our vendors did not apply at the time. It seems crazy though as one of the houses has just gone up for sale 20k more than what we paid in November so it obviously has not affected their value yet they are in a lower band.

The garden at the side has like a stream running down in wet weather. The first week we moved in we had very bad weather and I was gobsmacked at the amount if water flowing down the side garden coming off the hills.

Just a shame people cannot be honest as we love the house and area and would have still gone ahead but I would have dealt with a better insurance solution. We would have also have had better information about how to deal with correct drainage for the garden without guessing.

I have been going out of my way to drop off post every so often at a workplace reception without even a thank you text/call.

Guess I should toughen up??

Xx

Davesnave

ladymarmalade222 wrote: »

Xx

Was this winter 2012/13?

At that time there was much flooding in the west of the country and places that did not normally see much run-off were inundated. A farmer across the valley from me had to take defensive action, because water was coming down his track and threatening the house. He'd been there since 2002 without that ever happening to him before.

CIS

Davesnave wrote: »

Was this winter 2012/13?

At that time there was much flooding in the west of the country and places that did not normally see much run-off were inundated. A farmer across the valley from me had to take defensive action, because water was coming down his track and threatening the house. He'd been there since 2002 without that ever happening to him before.

IN 2013 when we had 'Thunder Thursday' up here in a matter of minutes everywhere was several inches deep and it rained like that for several hours.

Never had any problems before or since but our garden was 6 inches deep in water within minutes - it was just starting to lap over the door step when it reached it's maximum. The sheer volume of water was just horrendous.

Craig

ladymarmalade222

We moved in Nov 2016 and it flooded the other 3 houses ( details are sketchy about ours) 10 years ago. We noticed we still have a french drain at the rear where as the other 3 have aco drains. The back of the house is at ground level to the garden but there is a basement underneath so you climb a flight of stairs from the front entrance.

The boilers were located in the utility room next to the basement but the other 3 houses had to have them located on the next floor in kitchen as a stipulation of insurance as the flooding ruined the boilers due to water pouring through the vents.

We are the gable end and have a grass area at the side which us where the constant stream of water runs down in winter. We have also noticed salt looking lines a few inches above the steps on the gable end so are worried about water damage to the property.

When we mentioned the path at the top when we viewed (it was summer and very dry) we were told it just gets a little muddy. It actually runs as a small stream continuously through the winter and then diverts into a stream further down the road.

We have discovered the vendor built a retaining wall to keep some of the water back so they knew about the issues. He also had issues with the non attached next door neighbour not bothering to keep a culvert from blocking which allows water to pour down the garden further along.

We just feel like we are joining the dots at the moment.

The joys of homeownership

CIS

The joys of homeownership

It's never ending.

Craig