Zone 2 Flood Risk Advice
Discussion
Never lived in one, and the house we are now looking at buying is potentially in one. There are pictures of the road being impassable in 2013 where it flooded although no evidence of any property damage. The flood zone map shows the house just in a zone 2 area, behind it is a zone 3 area where there is a river and resevoir of some sort.
Is it really that risky situation as the risk seems to be anything from between 1 in 100 to 1 in 1000.
Thanks
Is it really that risky situation as the risk seems to be anything from between 1 in 100 to 1 in 1000.
Thanks
You could ask Aviva to check their flood map for you . They had their own flood map done for the entire country. See what they make of it - probably more accurate than the Env Agency one.
There were area where the flood risk was greater than 1 in 1000 that flooded 3 times in 10 years. My own opinion is that you are taking what could be a very expensive gamble, first on insurance cover for flood and second having a miserable 12 months if you do flood. Oh and unlikely to be able to sell at what you paid for it.
In short don't do it!
There were area where the flood risk was greater than 1 in 1000 that flooded 3 times in 10 years. My own opinion is that you are taking what could be a very expensive gamble, first on insurance cover for flood and second having a miserable 12 months if you do flood. Oh and unlikely to be able to sell at what you paid for it.
In short don't do it!
Unless you are buying a house on the river with an amazing view and access to the river, why take the risk? Plenty of good houses not likely to be flooded in the next 20 years. Look at Chertsey /Sunbury the other year. Houses may not have been flooded, but there was zero access in or out of some roads and you can guarantee their insurance has gon up irrespective of a claim.
So much is being built on flood plain now it is frightening - there is a reason they were desingated as flood plain and have't been built on for hundreds of years, the water has to go somewhere!
If its just next to a reservoir, then I wouldn't be concerned. They'll be dry this summer anyway
Good luck and hopefully my scaremongering is not relevant
So much is being built on flood plain now it is frightening - there is a reason they were desingated as flood plain and have't been built on for hundreds of years, the water has to go somewhere!
If its just next to a reservoir, then I wouldn't be concerned. They'll be dry this summer anyway
Good luck and hopefully my scaremongering is not relevant
Personally I would avoid it. I avoid sites in Zone 2 unless there is no alternative (almost all of Grimsby is Zone 2 or 3 for instance)
As for building on flood plains being common, that isn't really the case especially zone 3. Where it is permitted there a quite strict rules about design, flood storage capacity, flood water flow etc. The mid to late 1990's were when most flood plain development took place
As for building on flood plains being common, that isn't really the case especially zone 3. Where it is permitted there a quite strict rules about design, flood storage capacity, flood water flow etc. The mid to late 1990's were when most flood plain development took place
We'd had an offer accepted on a beautiful house about 300m away from the Thames in Old Windsor. The first thing we did and in advance of starting the proper searches was to analyse the flood risk - the flood reports came back as high risk for 1 in 75 year flooding.
I then started to look at insurance and noticed that most mainstream insurers wouldn't accept the risk so would have to go with a specialist insurer, with a price to match.
I probably spent around 100 hours or so researching the area, learning about the flood defences, cost of flood proofing the house, etc., as we really wanted the property. In the end however, I couldn't get comfortable with the risk, and thought we'd always be looking over our shoulders at what the river was doing, so we withdrew our offer.
Estate agent told us we were bonkers and the area would never flood - 2 months later, it was under water. I don't think it will be another 75 years before it floods again.
So I'd agree with the others - in my case, I couldn't justify the risk despite how much I liked the house. Had it actually been on the river, then that would be a different story.
I then started to look at insurance and noticed that most mainstream insurers wouldn't accept the risk so would have to go with a specialist insurer, with a price to match.
I probably spent around 100 hours or so researching the area, learning about the flood defences, cost of flood proofing the house, etc., as we really wanted the property. In the end however, I couldn't get comfortable with the risk, and thought we'd always be looking over our shoulders at what the river was doing, so we withdrew our offer.
Estate agent told us we were bonkers and the area would never flood - 2 months later, it was under water. I don't think it will be another 75 years before it floods again.
So I'd agree with the others - in my case, I couldn't justify the risk despite how much I liked the house. Had it actually been on the river, then that would be a different story.
You need to do your research, my house is in a zone 2 I think, however thats under a 200 year extreme cycle. The catch is though that it would hit the end of the drive by about 2ft. Not even past the gate, The house sits about 6ft above that. We only had one insurance company say no, the rest said its not even an issue, From history we can see that the house has never ever been flooded in 350odd years. It'd cost me about £200 in temporary measures to give another 5ft of protection to the house.
Basically, don't rule it out, just do some homework and look at the plot as a whole.
Basically, don't rule it out, just do some homework and look at the plot as a whole.
ladderino said:
Estate agent told us we were bonkers and the area would never flood - 2 months later, it was under water. I don't think it will be another 75 years before it floods again.
The environment agency figures are usually quite good but I think that people should note two things: recent weather cycles have meant that floods (and high winds) are occurring more frequently than in the recent past (say 100 years) and that spread over a few thousand years your risk may be 1 in 75 but there could well be a cluster of, say, fifteen or twenty events in the next 75 years which will average out in the long term.blueg33 said:
As for building on flood plains being common, that isn't really the case especially zone 3. Where it is permitted there a quite strict rules about design, flood storage capacity, flood water flow etc. The mid to late 1990's were when most flood plain development took place
You are right, I meant there are now a lot of houses that have been built on flood plain which you may not realise until searches are done / what the real risks are - especially in the south where land is at a premium.The other issue is that even though your property may be 6 foot above the water line in the event of a flood, it may mean you are a lone island in a swamp of raw sewage / infected water with no power or water etc etc. Again, extreme case but it puts me off seeing what happened last year when it would not have put me off in the past.
Some EA flood plans are plain wrong. My parents house is shown as in Zone 2. Its about 30 metres higher than the tiny watercourse and 10 metres higher than almost all of Coventry. The entire centre of the City would need to be 10m deep in water before my parents would need to worry about putting their wellies on.
blueg33 said:
Some EA flood plans are plain wrong. My parents house is shown as in Zone 2. Its about 30 metres higher than the tiny watercourse and 10 metres higher than almost all of Coventry. The entire centre of the City would need to be 10m deep in water before my parents would need to worry about putting their wellies on.
I'm not disagreeing with you some flood risks are clearly no such thing. I spent a lot of the last part of my surveying career doing insurance flood surveys. The most amazing of which was a pub, I went to see it on a lovely sunny summers day after the floods that winter. I pulled into a car park which was maybe 30 yards from what was little more than a brook. The pub was elevated several meters above the brook. When I went in I expected to find a fully operational pub but it was just a shell inside. The owners met me and explained they were still drying out the walls and we're having weekly checks. They then pointed out the water stain on the walls and windows which was higher than my head height.They said when the flood came their dog got on the wrong side of it and the owner swam the flood to rescue it. Then the water rose really quickly and they could not stop it entering the pub. They rescued what goods they could and fled upstairs where they were trapped until the water went down. I'm guessing the height of the flood water must have been close to 10M above the brook. Looking at the topography of the surrounding area I was amazed that this was possible even after having surveyed dozens and dozens of flood risks before that one.
Well yet again we have now lost out on this house (fourth one now) despite it being comfortablly within our budget and as usual no explanation from the estate agents as to why. All that did happen was a complete dis service to us buy them, failing to communicate (as usual) and then putting forward a full and final offer on our behalf which never was a full and final offer at all. Then came a load of nonsense about the vendors being abroad and not contactable the week after a double open day, followed then by the revelation that the agents had sold numerous properties on their behalf and not to bother increasing our offer as they were sticking with the other purchasers. For no apparent reason.
Gassing Station | Homes, Gardens and DIY | Top of Page | What's New | My Stuff