Flood risk report - to buy or not to buy

Joy_12345

According to the Environment Agency flood risk assessment website, and to the environmental report which my solicitor commissioned, the property I'm in the process of buying is at 'high risk' of flooding from a small watercourse. I don't know how the EA do their assessment, but the findings in the environmental report are purely based on modelling. However, the surveyor, having visited the property said flooding was highly highly unlikely (i.e. only in the same way that it could happen to any of us given the current situation). This is backed up by what the vendor said, and some independent people I spoke with locally. I believe the surveyor as he looked at the shape of the land, which I also saw, and this watercourse has a huge expanse of other space to flood over on the other side before it would get high enough to enter my (hopefully future) garden or house. I don't believe that modelling would take these local details into account.

I have the opportunity to purchase a specialised flood risk report. My feeling is that it's probably not worth it in that it doesn't really mean anything unless all factors, including very local ones, are taken into account. I doubt the company producing these reports would be doing a site visit. So I'm inclined not to give them my money.

But is there any reason it would be a good idea to get the report? I read somewhere that it could be useful for home insurance purposes? If so, in what way?

Many thanks in advance for any thoughts!

hazyjo

You may find it hard or expensive to insure if high risk. Without knowing what a report might say, it's hard to know if it would be helpful. I would definitely check what the vendors are currently paying and who they're insured with. May be easier to use the same provider. Are you needing a mortgage? They may need a report.

user1977

How long has the property been there? If it's a relatively recent development there'll have been more detailed flood assessments done as part of the planning process, so you should be able to get copies of those.

Have you looked for insurance quotes yet? Insurers will know the likely risk from the postcode (based on claims history etc).

Joy_12345

user1977 said:

How long has the property been there? If it's a relatively recent development there'll have been more detailed flood assessments done as part of the planning process, so you should be able to get copies of those.

Have you looked for insurance quotes yet? Insurers will know the likely risk from the postcode (based on claims history etc).

Thank you. It was built early 2000s. Would they have been doing detailed flood assessments then, to your knowledge? And is that the kind of thing I should be able to find online via a planning search?

With insurers, the ones I'm contacting are covered by the government Flood Re scheme, so don't seem particularly interested in flood risk. I think they did ask if there'd been flooding within the past 10 years, but they don't ask about proximity to watercourse / flood risk, anything like that...

Joy_12345

hazyjo said:

You may find it hard or expensive to insure if high risk. Without knowing what a report might say, it's hard to know if it would be helpful. I would definitely check what the vendors are currently paying and who they're insured with. May be easier to use the same provider. Are you needing a mortgage? They may need a report.

Thank you for your thoughts. The vendor says they don't pay high premiums for any reason (incl flood risk). Some insurers are covered by the government's Flood Re scheme, and luckily the place meets the Flood Re criteria as far as I can tell. Having spoken with a couple of insurance companies signed up to Flood Re, they don't seem interested at all in flood risk so I guess it should be ok from that perspective...

Brie

Insurance judging risk of flooding has, in the past, been a postcode lottery. So if there was any flooding reported in postcodes starting WE8 or BR1 then all of them would be considered high risk of having the same happen. 

A colleague a couple of years back had her insurance rates jump because of this as there had been some flooding in the city she lived.  When she asked them about it she was able to get it reduced by explaining that from her back door she could look down the hill the house was on and see the full roof of the local hospital that was 4 floors high. For her place to be flooded would take a asteroid hitting the ocean tsunami event.

My guess is that something similar to this has happened on the report received so far.

sevenhills

Is this any help.

https://check-long-term-flood-risk.service.gov.uk/postcode

user1977

Joy_12345 said:

user1977 said:

How long has the property been there? If it's a relatively recent development there'll have been more detailed flood assessments done as part of the planning process, so you should be able to get copies of those.

Have you looked for insurance quotes yet? Insurers will know the likely risk from the postcode (based on claims history etc).

It was built early 2000s. Would they have been doing detailed flood assessments then, to your knowledge? And is that the kind of thing I should be able to find online via a planning search?

With insurers, the ones I'm contacting are covered by the government Flood Re scheme, so don't seem particularly interested in flood risk. I think they did ask if there'd been flooding within the past 10 years, but they don't ask about proximity to watercourse / flood risk, anything like that...

Have a look for the planning consent and find out...how much detail is online will vary from council to council.

On insurers, I just meant by getting the usual online quotes rather than by chatting to them - if they think it's a risky postcode you'll see that from the quotes you get back.

j2009

Joy_12345 said:

I have the opportunity to purchase a specialised flood risk report. My feeling is that it's probably not worth it in that it doesn't really mean anything unless all factors, including very local ones, are taken into account. I doubt the company producing these reports would be doing a site visit. So I'm inclined not to give them my money.

I would definitely buy this report, if the house does flood you'll wish you had given them your money and kick yourself for not doing so. If you do buy it and it floods you'll know you tried to get all the information to make an informed decision.

Insurers are very smart when it come to flooding, the postcode lottery narrative it not accurate. They have incredibly detailed topographical maps that can be used to predict flood risk for each premises within a postcode. However, as noted they can cede the risk to Flood Re so you may not be able to tell from their quotes if that has happened so prices may look reasonable because they are not taking the risk!

Also, bear in mind Flood Re is currently due to end in 2039 so if the property does get ceded now and it's a long term purchase this needs to be considered. Chances are the scheme will be extended but there are no guarantees.

In terms of the modelling the Environment Agency do this will definitely take into account the topology of the land, and with all the low cost computing power these days the models are fiercely good. You said that there is a large area of land that would flood first, the models will definitely account for this.

The reality is you can't control the future and no flooding in living memory doesn't mean it won't happen. Over the last couple of years houses near where I live have flooded, some of these have been owned for 40-50years and never flooded before. So talking to locals is great and they may say it's never flooded, but just note that it can still happen.

Changes upstream or downstream (eg building and land drainage) could dramatically change things. "Highly highly unlikely" doesn't mean it won't happen, Bewdley is a 'good' example of somewhere that gets bad floods where the extreme events they see have a probability 1% and they have had 3 or 4 in the last decade or so.


I'm not trying to talk you out of it or fill you with fear, but I sense a little bias in how you are discounting the negatives and choosing to believe the positives. I'd just encourage you to be careful and apply due diligence; buy the report and take the advice of experts in the field rather than forum members like me!