Garden Flooding

ParryPal

My garden becomes extremely waterlogged whenever we get medium to heavy rain.

Huge deep puddles form at lowest points and the entire lawn is soaked.

This occurs to every property on the street.

The sellers said the property does not suffer from flooding on the property information form.

I am aware from searching online that this could be considered water logging, but the dictionary definition of flooding is "the covering or submerging of normally dry land with a large amount of water".
 
My (property) solicitor suggests I need a litigation solicitor, this is expensive.

Does this count as the seller lying on the form? If so, am I not able to just get 2-3 quotes in from drainage companies and take the sellers to small claims court, which would be minimal fees?

I am aware that it could be more hassle than it is worth to go to small claims, but if the costs of fixing the issue are likely to be more than £1000, then it is something I would like to consider and i would like to get you opinion on the matter.

Doozergirl

I wouldn't class the garden as the property flooding.  The purpose of that question is to ensure you're not standing feet deep in water in your lounge, not suffering with a poorly draining garden.  

user1977

Even if you can prove that the sellers knowingly misled on the form (and I'm not sure at what point "deep puddles" become "flooding" - it's somewhat clearer if the house itself was inundated with water), I suspect your entitlement may only be to (any) difference in value between a property with and without such a declaration, not the cost of drainage works.

housebuyer143

Personally I would assume flooding meant water coming into the house, not water logged garden. My grass is soaking all year round because we are at the bottom of a mountain, I wouldn't even consider this flooding. 
It's been raining a lot and it kind of seems like soil will quickly become water logged 

FreeBear

Is this a relatively new estate ?

Are you on a heavy clay soil ?

New(ish) build estates are sometime plonked on land that are prone to water logging. And if you have a heavy clay soil, it is going to be very difficult to resolve. Digging a lot of sand may alleviate the problem to some extent but that will depend on the geology of the area.

I doubt you will get far with litigation - The only winners will be solicitors, and it could be very expensive (budget £40K or more).

user1977

The relevant question does make clear it refers to any part of the property, not just buildings:

"Has any part of the property (whether buildings or surrounding garden or land) ever been flooded?"

ProDave

Does your garden slope away from the house?  How much is the garden level below the floor level of the house or any air bricks etc?

If all the houses in the street have similar standing water in heavy rain then just where do you think a drainage solution is going to pipe the water to?  In any event such a solution would require works on land other than your own garden.

If it is a sloping garden a a solution may be to raise the garden level with more soil, leaving a drainage ditch at the lower end.

ParryPal

Doozergirl said:

I wouldn't class the garden as the property flooding.  The purpose of that question is to ensure you're not standing feet deep in water in your lounge, not suffering with a poorly draining garden.  

The garden is included as part of the property in regards to the seller information form.

ParryPal

housebuyer143 said:

Personally I would assume flooding meant water coming into the house, not water logged garden. My grass is soaking all year round because we are at the bottom of a mountain, I wouldn't even consider this flooding. 
It's been raining a lot and it kind of seems like soil will quickly become water logged 

No it is any part of the property including the garden.

housebuyer143

ParryPal said:

housebuyer143 said:

Personally I would assume flooding meant water coming into the house, not water logged garden. My grass is soaking all year round because we are at the bottom of a mountain, I wouldn't even consider this flooding. 
It's been raining a lot and it kind of seems like soil will quickly become water logged 

No it is any part of the property including the garden.

Yes but water logged and flooding are two different things. If the garden is under a foot of water, yeah okay that's should have been disclosed. If it's full of puddles of water in the grassed areas because it's been raining for 30 days, I don't think that's really unexpected.

Flugelhorn

I would see flooding as water pouring in from elsewhere eg a stream or river , not just heavy rain - most of the houses on our estate get very soggy gardens in the winter and I doubt that anyone says they are "flooded"