We’ve been looking to move for a wee while but there hasn’t been anything suitable in our chosen location.

A house has just come up that ticks all the boxes but having checked the SEPA flood risk map it’s in a ‘moderate risk’ area for river flooding which equates to a 0.5% yearly risk. Its less than 200m from the river on flat ground. There’s also the same risk of surface water flooding. It hasn’t flooded in the last 20 years as far as I know. SEPA does future flood risk maps and the risk doesn’t seem to change.

Has anyone got any thoughts/observations/experience to share?

Ta

I would avoid. My parent’s house in Braunton was a mile away from a tiny stream .
Being slightly elevated saved them from those awful floods.
It’s a problem that is going to get unimaginably worse very quickly.

Our house is next to a river but raised up – it had never previously been at flood risk but those ‘once in a 100year storms’ we had a few years did flood the adjacent area but not near us. Since then we have been included in the flood risk map and insurance premiums have risen.

Just because your near a river doesn’t mean you’re going to flood. It all depends what is happening up and downstream in terms of flood defence/mitigation.

A moderate risk wouldn’t bother me as long as insurance wasn’t an issue.

those ‘once in a 100year storms’ we had a few years did flood the adjacent area

This house is in a 0.5% yearly risk area so that’s 1 in 200 year event isn’t it? Although the prevalence of such events is probably going to change and obviously it doesn’t mean it won’t happen next year etc.

It all depends what is happening up and downstream in terms of flood defence/mitigation.

These are circumstances that are outside your control and could well change within the timescale of house ownership. As flooding is also becoming more likely with climate change, it’d be too great a risk for me.

Having been flooded out of my house in the big floods in Sheffield in 2007, I personally wouldn’t look at a house that had a ‘realistic’ risk of flood. The key word being realistic, what you think is realistic and your appetite for risk.

The one thing we can pretty much guarantee is flooding in the UK is increasing in frequency and severity, so unless mitigation measures are taken locally or by yourself (flood walls & gates etc), I’d expect your flood risk to increase.

The being flooded wasn’t the bad part (at the end of the day it’s only stuff), but getting the house re-instated was an utter ballache which took 11 months of hassle on a daily basis. The problem is that when you have a flood claim, it’s very likely that lots of other people in the same area do as well. In my case the insurance companies couldn’t cope or find the trades to do the work to the required standard due to the sudden acute demand

Paid through the nose gif flood cover for the next 10 years as well

I work in flooding imho opinion I would totally avoid it.

But if you do buy it and it then does flood please do not start bitching and moaning you have flooded to SEPA.

There are so many variables here it is hard to say. I would be very cautious and as a minimum expect your insurance to be more expensive.

You need to try and understand the bit of the river system it is near and why the SEPA model shows the moderate risk. Is it near a large river in the middle of the main flood plain? If yes avoid. Is it a minor tributary where a quirk of topology means it could back up a bit but probably not that deep, far more nuanced and potentially not that big a concern.

These are circumstances that are outside your control and could well change within the timescale of house ownership. As flooding is also becoming more likely with climate change, it’d be too great a risk for me.

Oh, I totally get this and agree. I work in civil engineering on flood defence schemes for a company that also produces the flood maps insurance and works closley with the EA on flood defence and mapping. I understand the risks. If you can find out what flood mitigation measures have been put in then I might go for it if the house is right. Everyone loves a view right?

If there has been no flood measure for a long time then no I wouldn’t go for it.

What bothers me as well is poorly designed surface water systems around houses or houses with no flow paths, driveways that slope down to the house with nowhere for the water to go, apart from a token channel drain across the garage door….

As per Kuco’s comments, I work in this field. Wouldn’t touch it myself.

To a certain extent it’s not even the flooding that’s the biggest issue, it’s that flooding becomes your life.

Do you want to be constantly watching the long range forecast and soil moisture deficit data? Spending your weekends in school halls discussing potential flood risk reduction schemes that are at the whim of a funding mechanism controlled and led by politicians. I’ve seen first hand what it does to people, it’s the opposite of what I want out of life.

It would be lovely in summer though, and there’s the rub.

But if you do buy it and it then does flood please do not start bitching and moaning you have flooded to SEPA.

Now why on earth would I do that?

We moved out of a place that was at moderate risk but had never flooded. What’s very pretty over summer can turn into a source of anxiety over heaver rains, which seemed to me to increase during our stay there. I guess I lost my appetite for risk, was mindful of climate changes, and was concerned about who would buy if the proverbial hit the fan. As @ads above says, it may not be direct risk either: there may be water coming from different directions, which has nowhere to go because of the nearby [high] river. There may be solutions, but I’d spend a few quid and find out what they are before I buy.

Don’t want it to sound like I’m being flippant about flooding, as I’ve also seen the devastation it can cause.

If you really want the house, do you homework. Find out everything you can about what flood mitigation and resiliance measures have been put in, or can be put in, or might be put in, in the future.

End of the day though, if you’re unsure now, will you ever be happy about it.

It’s certainly worth checking the impact in house insurance costs, which are only likely to go in one direction. We’re just far enough away from the Spey to fall outside any current risk but I do look at the maps occasionally to see if they are being redrawn.

If you can find out what flood mitigation measures have been put in then I might go for it if the house is right.

As part of my earlier reply I was also thinking of risk increasing schemes. Eg, there was some really bad flooding in our local town, Northwich a couple of years ago. Upstream a huge housing development is being built on the flood plain. The developers were in the local press saying how pleased they were that how the increased ground levels meant all the plots stayed dry, saw it as some kind of vindication that the scheme isn’t fundamentally flawed, while 1/2 of the town centre is ****.

There were other issues too to compound it, lack of maintenance on a huge sluice, but again budgets and priorities may change things like this over time negatively, and there’s nothing property owners could do, hell, you’d not even know about it.

Lots of common sense and professional advice above.

I used to live in a flood risk zone in Chester, but though I was reasonably close to the river, it was on top of a sandstone outcrop it was never (in my lifetime) going to flood. It was lazy mapping.

If there is a realistic chance, and your description doesn’t fill me with hope, walk away, for all the reasons indicated above unless (1) it is a fantastic location / building and (2) you see it as a challenge.

Question to the experts, is there anyone the OP can go to for independent location specific advice ?

My village has a local flood group as there are a few specific homes that are at a high risk of flooding. Perhaps there is a similar setup where you’re looking who could provide some useful local data.

Question to the experts, is there anyone the OP can go to for independent location specific advice ?

Different areas are different but local authority will have strategic flood risk assesments for areas that would coever wider ranging flooding issues and future potential mitigiation measures, EA/SEPA will probably manage large scale flood defence, just goolging would bring up any local flood defence schemes. Not sure about north of the border but in Engand some places have IDB’s (independant drainage boards) that manage local watercourses and drainage systems.

Edit: Also as above local groups will have all the knowledge about who deals with what.

@ads678 – Skipton based?

@ElShalimo – I’m not but my company is. I work out of the Leeds office. Take it you know the company or work there also?

Its less than 200m from the river on flat ground.

It’s that bit that would trouble me. Is the house elevated in any way?

We bought a house earlier that was flagged as high risk for surface water but low risk for river flooding despite us being less than 50yds from a known flood plain (it floods nearly every year).

To a certain extent it’s not even the flooding that’s the biggest issue, it’s that flooding becomes your life.

This was, for me, the decided factor in moving. My house flooded twice and would’ve done so again, and every single time it rained heavily or for a prolonged period it was a source of tension and anguish. I wouldn’t buy a house that had a “moderate risk”

Nope – it’s only going to get worse.

Personally I’d avoid.

We had a house which was built in 1790, it was elevated up, but next to a flood plain. It had never flooded in it’s 200+ years (made of Cob so would have washed away). Found it difficult and expensive to insure, partly because of the ‘non brick construction’ but also because of the proximity to a flood plain.

Flood plains are only getting bigger these days and there nothing to say  small change up stream in the future wouldn’t increase your risk.

Just because your near a river doesn’t mean you’re going to flood. It all depends what is happening up and downstream in terms of flood defence/mitigation.

Mine and by the sounds of it ads colleagues made the sepa flood maps. If it’s in the flood risk area it’s pretty safe to assume it’s going to flood at some point. The maps are built on ground elevations, hydrology it’s not a “it’s near a river” type situation. I can’t remember if it was then reviewed with sfdad in mind (flood defence asset register, basically the only flood defences that are official.)

I’d avoid

Edit: ads wrote that ahaha get on message bro

A moderate risk wouldn’t bother me as long as insurance wasn’t an issue.

& you don’t mind the hassle of living with no carpets or ground floor furniture, stinking wet house etc. Can you just imagine being flooded out & thinking, ‘oh It’s ok, we’re insured, we’ll be sorted in a couple of days’.
Then you insurance premium goes through the roof & you can’t sell the house because It’s got history.
I’d avoid it like the plague.

Give us a clue where the hoose is

@ads678 – I know several of your RM colleagues. They’re very good at what they do.

My father has recently (3 years ago) moved out of a place that flooded regularly.
The small but fairly steadily flowing stream at the back of the garden is about 2m lower than his garden. And narrow/shallow enough to wade across with normal wellington boots on, 3 large steps, max.
There are two bridges and a culvert within 300m downstream of him.

When there is a bit of heavy rain on the hills above the village, all the rubbish that the utter dick of a farmer dumps near the stream gets washed into the stream, blocks the channels under the bridges and the culvert and backs up 10’s of thousands of gallons of water that then flooded my dads house and about a dozen of his neighbours.

He’s not even technically on a high flood risk area, think it’s like once in 200 years.

The stream overflows (usually) 2 or 3 times a year, he (and a couple of his worst affected neighbours) used to rent a skip twice a year and spend a weekend clearing out the bridges and culvert, so they at least had a fighting chance.
EA fined the farmer 8-10 years ago, they had a couple of years with no flooding. Then he did some work on the fields. (TBH, i think a lot of it is grouse moors up there). And they are back to square one. That’s when they decided to sell up and move.

And he also spent thousands adding flood defenses to the property. The “decorative wall” along the edge of the garden has been completely rebuilt and has 2m deep reinforced concrete foundations and is full of rebar and a waterproof membrane. There is also a 1m wall between the garden and the patio which is built in a similar way. A sump and float activated pump under the floor in the cupboard under the stairs. No electrics lower than 1m on any wall, everything below the electrics on the ground floor is tiled for easy cleaning as well. They also have a couple of big dehumidifiers in the attic, ready to go, and a little foot operated jack and blocks of wood ready to lift furniture up off the floor if they go away for the weekend…

I’m amazed they even bought the place.

He now lives about 3 miles away, on the very very top of a very very large hill. Windy as hell, but no flood risk.

TL:DR. Keep looking, 1 in 200 year flood event could very quickly become 1 in 5 (or 2 a year).

Some really good advice and experience on here, but my view is “don’t”.

The situation won’t get better, and the constant nagging worry, cost of insurance and difficulty trying to sell would do my head in. And even if it was your forever home and you stay put, the risk will be increasing as your age means your ability to cope is reducing.

TL:DR. Keep looking, 1 in 200 year flood event could very quickly become 1 in 5 (or 2 a year).

This is it really. When our risk guy did a course he pointed out the apprentice and said you’ll see this happen.

I just checked by the way. Those maps probably a little conservative these days but should include any flood defences.

the constant nagging worry

That was when things tipped for us, when it wasn’t just a few heavy days in Winter but some super-heavy rainfall at the end of a recent summer. Of course, possibly a one-off, but…

Wouldn’t even consider it. There’s enough to worry about these days without added threat of a flood every time there’s a storm! It’s a situation which can never improve either, only get worse. Also what if you needed to sell the house on at some point?

It’s amazing how many people buy houses near water courses and when they flood start moaning to the EA that they have flooded. What looks like a nice little brook in summer can turn into a raging torrent in winter.

In the catchment I work in a couple of years ago the flooding affected us for 6 months. I saw places flood that I never seen flood in 23 years of working in flooding and it’s only getting worse.

My parent’s house in Braunton was a mile away from a tiny stream

We installed the footbridge over the “river Caen “ up near Tesco . As part of the RAMS the guys had to wear life jackets and we had to have an inflatable boat at the ready whilst erecting.
Oh , how we laughed at the ankle deep trickle that was the “river”.
A bit different a decade or so later though

But it does depend on the local situation. What the flood map doesn’t tell you is the severity of the flooding. It could be a very low chance of the whole of the downstairs being underwater or a very high chance of your driveway being under 10 cm of water and then once it gets to a certain depth it overspills elsewhere. You really need to use the map in conjunction with studying contour lines etc to understand what the potential is.

I lived in a converted barn with a stone floor that flooded once every 2 years, but only to a depth of <0.5 cm. Basically a tiny stream that ran through. So, based on how long I lived there it had a 50% chance of flooding each year. But a 0% chance of actually getting the furniture wet.

I live in a High Risk area (200m from the Thames). But in the most recent historically high floods of 2014, we were not affected. Also the house is slightly raised Victorian property. Must be location dependent, although insurance is not cheap. I’d be more concerned about a small stream at the end of a garden with some history turning into a torrent than a major river with monitoring and regular flood warnings from the Environment Agency.

It’s all been said. As a climate scientist, albeit a relatively sanguine one, I would avoid unless I could convince myself that the 1 in 200 estimate is pessimistic. How high is the house really? A metre or two could make quite a difference. Would you like to say more precisely where it is?

It’s not just climate, it’s also more houses being built in the area and upstream, increasing the speed of run-off. “Better” (for who?) drainage of farmland.

Some friends living in the river valley here have regular flooding, they have a stone floor, no carpet and a pump set up in a little sump. It’s still sometimes bad enough to swamp their electricity supply, I had to rescue their freezer contents once when they were on holiday. They say it was worse before the sewage pipe had a non-return valve fitted…

As a very general rule, I doubt I’d remotely consider a home less than ten metres above water level around the UK.