Issues with river on property

[ChocolateFrog]

More of a substantial stream than a river at my dad's place but as kids in the summer it's great fun.

[sherman]

My brother has the start of a river at the bottom of his garden.
His house is 100ft back and 20ft higher than the river.
His garden slopes gently in a few levels down to the river.
If his house floods the main town further down the river is in serious bother.

Sheep wade across from the field across the river in summer to eat his grass

[LooneyTunes]

Depends how big the river is, how much land there is, and how far the river is from the house and what the elevations are.

Both inlaws and ourselves have rivers forming boundaries of properties we own. Theirs is picturesque and the kids loved paddling in it when younger. Ours is larger, sometimes see someone paddle down it, and it has been occasionally swum in by friends.

Neither is any hassle at all. Much more hassle is a small stream that makes an area of the land a bit boggy and sometimes overspills.

A well defined river, not prone to regular flooding, wouldn’t put me off in the slightest, but I might feel differently if it was likely to see a lot of traffic through the middle of the property.

[Chucklehead]

JQ said:

Chucklehead said:

i lived in a house with a river running along the boundary edge of the back garden growing up.

I would never again live in a house with a river running through it.. or near it.

Why, what happened?

In 10 years, 3 major flooding incidents - out of the house for 6-12 months at a time while the entire downstairs was dried and refurbished. Home insurance was beginning to be incredibly difficult towards the end. Flood defence measures went in, and to my knowledge it hasn't flooded in the last 20 years, but i wouldn't go back.

Plus, it was a bit of a rat run (literally). They didn't seem to venture towards the house, but still..

--edit: i just had a quick google to find out about the flood defences, and it turns out yes, it flooded again since. Most recently at the end of 2019.

Edited by Chucklehead on Thursday 30th March 16:01

[Jimbo.]

drmotorsport said:

Currently house hunting and a cool property has come onto the radar. However it has a small river running through the garden which on the surface of things is lovely, but i'm terrified it would become a moneypit with garden being eroded/flooding, constant maintenance of the banks or having to bend over to the environment agencies, or worse still, having the unwashed public trying to sail up it Any experience/tips amongst the PH directors?

You’ll be a Riparian Landowner, with a responsibility to keep the channel clear and free-flowing, whether that’s cutting back any in-channel weed growth or pulling out debris, fallen trees etc. That also means keeping thyour bed and banks in good order so that they don’t fire water out elsewhere and cause flooding. Failure to do that may leave you facing civil action from anyone who suffers flooding as a result.

Google “owning a watercourse” and look for the .gov.uk page.

[James6112]

M1AGM said:

I’d never buy anything near a river or brook. Know too many people who have got flooded by those ‘one in a hundred year’ events that seem to happen a little more frequently than that.

My parents house in Devon had a large stream at the bottom of the garden. Was fun & useful for watering the plants etc!
Until the once in 100 year event, scary stuff. Their garden was a fair bit shorter until the damage was sorted out…

Every one is different though.

I like the idea still, if the lie of the land is ok.

[JQ]

Chucklehead said:

JQ said:

Chucklehead said:

i lived in a house with a river running along the boundary edge of the back garden growing up.

I would never again live in a house with a river running through it.. or near it.

Why, what happened?

In 10 years, 3 major flooding incidents - out of the house for 6-12 months at a time while the entire downstairs was dried and refurbished. Home insurance was beginning to be incredibly difficult towards the end. Flood defence measures went in, and to my knowledge it hasn't flooded in the last 20 years, but i wouldn't go back.

Plus, it was a bit of a rat run (literally). They didn't seem to venture towards the house, but still..

--edit: i just had a quick google to find out about the flood defences, and it turns out yes, it flooded again since. Most recently at the end of 2019.

Edited by Chucklehead on Thursday 30th March 16:01

Ouch, completely understandable point of view. That would have thoroughly pissed me off too.

[drmotorsport]

Jimbo. said:

You’ll be a Riparian Landowner, with a responsibility to keep the channel clear and free-flowing, whether that’s cutting back any in-channel weed growth or pulling out debris, fallen trees etc. That also means keeping thyour bed and banks in good order so that they don’t fire water out elsewhere and cause flooding. Failure to do that may leave you facing civil action from anyone who suffers flooding as a result.

Google “owning a watercourse” and look for the .gov.uk page.

Ah that's interesting thanks, was wondering about unknown responsibilities.

[VTC]

A seemingly small brook can after heavy rains nearby become a Raging Torrent
the river next to one of our previous houses was around 6-10 inches deep relatively fast flowing
come winter and heavy rains on Exmoor the 6-10 inches become 5-6ft of scarily fast water bowling around the corner and past our house.
I was working nights and could hear the torrent thundering past,
our property had a bordering wall along its entire boundary and the water came to within a couple of feet of the top of it.

I decided on that night we were moving.
Our property had been there around 50 years and never suffered flooding
I assume that was why the wall on the border was constructed.
but the sight of that water so near the top of the wall was enough for me.

[cayman-black]

Yes we live in the UK and yes its pissing down again so no I do not want to be near a stream or river especially if its in my land.

[heisthegaffer]

bennno said:

drmotorsport said:

Currently house hunting and a cool property has come onto the radar. However it has a small river running through the garden which on the surface of things is lovely, but i'm terrified it would become a moneypit with garden being eroded/flooding, constant maintenance of the banks or having to bend over to the environment agencies, or worse still, having the unwashed public trying to sail up it Any experience/tips amongst the PH directors?

Yes. Buy it with eyes open, or don't if you are concerned.

Presumably flood risk and its a slam dunk for flood risk insurance exclusions..... although flood re might help.

Flood Re is currently only for new builds. Not sure if it'll be extended.

[austinsmirk]

I’ve a friend in a little Yorkshire stone cottage: in fact theirs about 10 of them in a courtyard which must have served a nearby mill years ago.

It’s got to be 5 or more metres higher from the river

The river is physically over a tarmac road, substantial enough it’ll take lorries still to the mill.

The amount of times all the houses have been seriously flooded is unreal. No one can get insurance now. Props unsellable dispute being gorgeous and in a great spot.

You wouldn’t believe how high a river can get ( the aire actually) even though it seems so wide, seems to have enough countryside to go onto. Bit of an extreme example but do your research

[heisthegaffer]

I was once in Perth and was walking along the river Tay. Beautiful and the road is a good few meters above the river but has flood defences.

Water can rise very high and very quickly and Insurers are seeing more and more serious weather events.

[Penny Whistle]

drmotorsport said:

Jimbo. said:

You’ll be a Riparian Landowner, with a responsibility to keep the channel clear and free-flowing, whether that’s cutting back any in-channel weed growth or pulling out debris, fallen trees etc. That also means keeping thyour bed and banks in good order so that they don’t fire water out elsewhere and cause flooding. Failure to do that may leave you facing civil action from anyone who suffers flooding as a result.

Google “owning a watercourse” and look for the .gov.uk page.

Ah that's interesting thanks, was wondering about unknown responsibilities.

Not necessarily your responsibility. I have a major river forming the boundary of a couple of fields. The Environment Agency and local Drainage Board have responsibility for keeping it clear of weed, keeping it free-flowing, managing the water level, etc. I have to maintain access for their machinery and must not obstruct the nearest 9M (I think) so that they can dump scrapings. You probably cannot abstract water, but might well have fishing rights. That is for ag land rather than res, but it needs careful checking.

[eliot]

Penny Whistle said:

The Environment Agency and local Drainage Board have responsibility for keeping it clear of weed, keeping it free-flowing, managing the water level, etc..

They may well have, doesn't mean they will actually do it on a regular schedule.

[Penny Whistle]

eliot said:

Penny Whistle said:

The Environment Agency and local Drainage Board have responsibility for keeping it clear of weed, keeping it free-flowing, managing the water level, etc..

They may well have, doesn't mean they will actually do it on a regular schedule.

In my case, they do.

[z4RRSchris]

depends how big the river is. At the end of our place is rather a nice one.

does flood the garden a lot however

[ian996]

z4RRSchris said:

depends how big the river is. At the end of our place is rather a nice one.

Similar to the above, this one is about 20 metres from my front door (although not on my property). Extremely low flood risk due to the topography, but one thing to be aware of is that rivers are very efficient at spreading Japanese knotweed - if there is any within the flood zone upstream it is likely to slowly but surely travel downstream.

The riverbank here is jointly privately owned, and we have an ongoing eradication programme, but I wouldn't want to be any closer than I am.

Other than that, it's all good. Plenty of interesting wildlife and an ever-changing picture through the seasons. Personally, I quite like seeing kayakers and rafters travelling by as I'm working - helps provide a bit of perspective and a reminder that there is life beyond my keyboard and screen.



Edited to add a picture when it's in flood... the bottom of that tree is about 2 metres down.

Edited by ian996 on Saturday 1st April 16:21

[xx99xx]

eliot said:

Penny Whistle said:

The Environment Agency and local Drainage Board have responsibility for keeping it clear of weed, keeping it free-flowing, managing the water level, etc..

They may well have, doesn't mean they will actually do it on a regular schedule.

And just to be pedantic, only the land owner has the responsibility for maintenance. The EA has permissive powers to do it (if it's a 'main river') i.e. they are allowed to do it, but not a responsibility.

If the EA owns any water control structures then they will be responsible for operating and maintaining them. But basic watercourse maintenance is likely to be lower priority for EA and the first thing that gets canned (where they already do it) if budgets change.