The property backs on to a canal — should I worry about flooding?

The property is immediately next to a canal

Proximity to water is a reason to check, not a verdict. A canal is an engineered, managed channel and many properties beside one have never had a problem; a river with a flood plain behind it is a different proposition entirely. What matters is that a seller's assurance covers only their period of ownership and their recollection, and that nobody in your transaction is independently investigating the risk unless you ask them to.

From the e-ROT archive

This scenario is drawn from Report on Title material dealing with this specific circumstance.

Lexsure master Report on Title paragraph: Canal in close proximity · See the wording

What the seller's answer is worth

It is worth having and it is narrow. “No flooding during our ownership” covers however long they have been there and whatever they remember, and says nothing about the decade before that or the decade ahead.

The Lexsure wording below is candid about the other half of it: the conveyancer has carried out no independent or formal investigation into the risk of flooding. That is the normal position. Investigating flood risk is not part of a standard conveyance, and the gap is yours to fill or to accept knowingly.

Where to look, in order

The Environment Agency's flood risk maps are free, online, and cover risk from rivers, the sea and surface water separately. Look at all three layers: a property next to a canal may have a trivial fluvial risk and a serious surface water one.

A specialist flood risk surveyor is the next step where the maps are ambiguous or the stakes are high. They can look at levels, at where water would actually go, and at what protection the property has.

Your prospective insurer is the third source and in some ways the most honest, because the price is a view about risk expressed by somebody with money on it.

The things specific to living beside a watercourse

Who owns the bank, and whether the title brings riparian obligations with it — maintaining the bank, not obstructing the flow — which are real duties attaching to the land.

Who manages the channel, and what the arrangements are for maintaining water levels and the structures that control them.

Whether access to the property crosses or depends on anything the navigation authority or the watercourse owner controls. These are title questions as much as flood questions, and they are worth asking at the same time.

Canal in close proximity

Master precedent Lexsure e-ROTScope Adjacent watercourseWord count 123Status Current master paragraph

The property is situated immediately adjacent to a canal, and whilst the sellers have confirmed they are not aware of any history of flooding during their ownership, we have not carried out any independent or formal investigations into the risk of flooding.

We recommend that you satisfy yourself in this regard by reviewing the Environment Agency’s flood risk maps, which are available online, or by instructing a specialist flood risk surveyor if you require further assurance. You may also wish to make enquiries with your buildings insurance provider to ensure that flood cover is available on acceptable terms. Please note that the availability and cost of flood insurance can be influenced by the property's location and any future changes to flood risk assessments.

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