Flood Risk and Environmental Reports: Why Timing Matters for Home Buyers

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I had a really interesting chat with someone this week who did not come to us for their searches. They were provided with a screening environmental report and then relied upon the Environment Agency’s data to make decisions about flood risk at their new home.

Several weeks after moving in, they looked out into their garden to find a significant amount of it completely submerged and unusable as a garden. In effect, they had a lake.

They called us up to try and understand how this could be the case, when their findings suggested that surface water flooding was not an issue for their property.

The answer was unfortunately simple. The Environment Agency uses pinpoint data rather than a polygon. Simply put, when we place an order for an environmental report with Groundsure, Landmark or Martello for instance, we draw the outline of the entire property title onto a map. The entire polygon area is then considered when it comes to the findings in the data.

So whereas the Environment Agency’s website had a pinpoint set to the middle of the house, it came up with no warnings for surface water. However, it gave absolutely no consideration for anything beyond that dot.

This is a really good example as to why home buyers should engage with a search business like mine at Property Searches Direct during the process of buying a property. There is little point talking with us after the fact to identify where you went wrong, as errors, particularly when it comes to flooding, can be catastrophic.

Conversely, we had another client this week who had received a comprehensive environmental report through their conveyancer, but they were confused about the findings regarding the flood data. They wanted advice as to whether there was a specific report that they could engage with, that would provide flood-specific data from a different supplier, so they could compare and contrast the findings to make an informed decision.

I was so happy in the moment to hear someone getting so involved in their purchase and understanding the importance of getting things right, before they moved in.

As it happens, the second report provided evidence of surface water risk in the road in front of the house and the road behind, but the property itself had little or no risk at all. This was simply a case of ensuring that drains in the road were kept clear to allow heavy rainfall to flow away from the site.

Thankfully, armed with all the facts, along with a recent quote for buildings and contents insurance, they were finally confident to go ahead and exchange contracts.

Although this client was determined to find the answers, two things were very clear.

Firstly, they had been sent their environmental report at the last minute and were under pressure to exchange, far from ideal.

Secondly, they had to resort to Google to find us, as opposed to their conveyancer saying far earlier in the transaction, “you know what, you may want to investigate the issue of flooding with a search company, and I’d suggest getting in touch with Property Searches Direct to discuss what you know and what more you can find out.”

But alas, that was not the case.

If you are buying a property, please get hold of the right information far sooner in the transaction, and if that means taking control of ordering searches directly with Property Searches Direct, then so be it.

Thanks for listening to this episode of Moving Home, Uncovered. If you found this useful, subscribe so you don’t miss future episodes, and head over to propertysearchesdirect.co.uk/podcast to send me your questions. I’ll cover them in future episodes to help make moving home a smoother, less stressful experience for everyone.