Flood Risk · Report on Title scenarios
Flood risk
6 situations in which flood risk comes up during a conveyancing transaction, each answering a different question.
- The search shows the property is at risk of floodingFlood risk reaches a purchase through three doors: the mortgage, the insurance and the eventual sale. What to do about each, and why it has to happen before exchange.
- The search says surface water flood risk is HighSurface water flooding is rainfall the drains cannot take, and it has nothing to do with rivers or the sea. Why it is the hardest kind to predict, and what a High rating is telling you.
- The property is protected by flood defencesDefences reduce risk rather than removing it, insurers price the residual risk anyway, and someone has to pay for maintenance. The three questions to ask about any defence.
- The seller has disclosed that the cellar has floodedA disclosure that will not appear in any search. Why a seller's own answer carries more weight than a flood map here, and the two people to speak to before exchange.
- The property is immediately next to a canalBeing next to water is not the same as being at risk from it, and the seller saying they have had no trouble is not an investigation. What to check yourself, and where.
- The environmental search includes a climate change ratingA forward-looking assessment of flooding, subsidence and coastal erosion risk. Why it has a shelf life, what it is not, and the one thing it changes about how you buy.
Already bought, and flood risk has become a problem?
These pages are written for someone still deciding. If this came up after you completed, the question is a different one — what was known during the purchase, and what should have been reported to you.
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