Just dont know what to do, supposed to be moving next Friday

honeybee3939

Hi

Me and my husband are just so stressed out at the moment wondering what we should do move or not?
We went to see the Solicitor yesterday and had our results from the searches, we havent completed yet but we have arranged to move on the 23rd of May if all goes well that is.

The searches told us that we where within 250metres of a extreme flood zone, the house its self when you look at the map isnt classed as a flood risk but my concerns are with it been so near to the area in years to come things may change.
We have our heart set on this house and we just dont know what to do.
The enviroment agency said it would be a 1000 to 1 chance it would get flooded and i know thats very slim.

What would you do?

Thankyou in advance.

ruggedtoast

An extreme flood zone, sounds great. Sorry I have no idea but bumped for you while we wait for a geologist.

Incisor

honeybee3939 wrote: »

Hi

Me and my husband are just so stressed out at the moment wondering what we should do move or not?
We went to see the Solicitor yesterday and had our results from the searches, we havent completed yet but we have arranged to move on the 23rd of May if all goes well that is.

The searches told us that we where within 250metres of a extreme flood zone, the house its self when you look at the map isnt classed as a flood risk but my concerns are with it been so near to the area in years to come things may change.
We have our heart set on this house and we just dont know what to do.
The enviroment agency said it would be a 1000 to 1 chance it would get flooded and i know thats very slim.

What would you do?

Thankyou in advance.

With flood zones, despite everyone [including otherwise sane insurance companies] quoting horizontal distances away from the zone, these do not matter 1 jot. It is the vertical distance which matters, every time.

I would rather live 1metre horizontally from a flood zone, but 50m above it, than 250m horizontally, but only 1 metre vertically.

LillyJ

THe environment area website said my house was in a flood risk area. It is at the top of a valley, higher than the surrounding area. If it were to flood there would be many thousands of homes completely submerged, and the whole of Birmingham City Centre would be gone!

Apparently it is due to an old stream that dried up years ago, and is about 10m lower than where my house is! (and about 300m away)

Obviously if the whole of Norfolk goes under water like some predict, then there is a chance that in the next 100 years it could flood. But by the time Birmingham city centre is under water, I am not sure I want to be living there anyway!

chappers

just move in but get the Oh to start building an ark just in case.
i would do the same look at the elevation above the "extreme" flood zone also the extent of the extreme flood zone. If the flood area is large then it would take alot of water to even reach a few feet however if it is small then it might not take much more water to reach 20 feet.

ruggedtoast

Tell you what why dont you tell the estate agent this and then put in a lower offer? As the others said if its higher upland I wouldnt worry about it, I believe you can also check somewhere to see where has flooded in the past.

jamtart6

ruggedtoast wrote: »

An extreme flood zone, sounds great. Sorry I have no idea but bumped for you while we wait for a geologist.

...and here she comes!

I agree with the others, how high is your house above the current flood plain/river? If its sitting at the top of a Jack and Jill style house, don't worry.

Where is the river in conjunction to your house? How old are the flood risk maps?

As for the old "1 in 50 year flood" (i.e. a massive one), these sorts of extreme events are set to become more frequent.

One of my greatest confusions in life is why people build in flood plains. Yes its nice flat land, but so high risk!

honeybee - if you can answer these questions I can help you further. You are so close to moving, it would be a shame to pull out now, but I do understand your concerns! PM me if I can be of any help...

honeybee3939

Thanks Guys for all you replies,

Jamtart i have pmd you, the river is about half a mile away from the back of the house, the house is on quite flat land but hubby reckons its about 5ft higher than where the extreme flood zone lies, the maps where taken from the enviromental site and as far as i know they are updated every 3 months.

Thanks again everyone.

PasturesNew

(not a trained geologist)

I've always been aware of flood plains as I used to live in East Anglia and know how far inland some floods went in years past. I had a fascination.

But water can only go across before it goes up.

If you turn a tap on in the kitchen and stand on a low box while your house floods you will see the water goes round the box. So for it to go up 5' to your house 250m BEYOND an EXTREME flood plain indicated on a map it would probably have to be the submerging of your entire town.

Take a quick drive out there, look at the individual lie of the land. If there is any area lower than your new house the water would prefer to go that way, it won't travel up hill to get you because it knows you're there.

How far are you from that river and its extreme flood line?

It's all about the lie of the land between the river and the extreme boundary - then what happens after that. If your house is 5' higher than anything for 100 miles, you'll become an island but safe.

Five feet, in the circumstances you describe would most likely make me feel very comfortable, but it does depend on the area within, say 1-3 miles.

Personally I'd have checked the flood plain levels online before a viewing as I'd never buy a house IN the extreme area. But outside of it I'd certainly consider.

maninthestreet

honeybee3939 wrote: »

Thanks Guys for all you replies,

Jamtart i have pmd you, the river is about half a mile away from the back of the house, the house is on quite flat land but hubby reckons its about 5ft higher than where the extreme flood zone lies, the maps where taken from the enviromental site and as far as i know they are updated every 3 months.

Thanks again everyone.

http://www.ordnancesurvey.co.uk/oswebsite/

Go to the above site, enter the postcode for the property and zoom in to the most detailed view. Look at the contour lines between the river and the property - they are marked at every 5m (vertical) interval. This will give you a reasonable idea of the vertical distance the property is above the river.

silvercar

Water can't flow up, but it can flow down. A few years ago there was a flood that wiped out a village (west country?); on TV you could see houses being washed down the hill, taken with the flow of the water.