Understanding Flood Risk Reports: What Homebuyers Need to Know
With 6.3 million properties at risk of flooding in England and Wales, it’s important not to overlook this factor when buying a property. In this guide, we look at what a flood risk report is, why it’s recommended and what’s included.
What is a flood risk report?
A flood risk report assesses the likelihood of a location being affected by uncontrolled water known as flooding. This can include flooding from rivers, the sea, flash-flooding from heavy rainfall, groundwater or sewer overflows.
Flood risk reports are undertaken when someone is:
- Looking to buy a house
- Looking to build and get planning permission
- Looking to reduce flood risk at a property or business
A flood risk report when buying a house shows how likely it is that the property or land you’re intending to purchase will suffer from flooding at some point in the future. In addition, understanding the likelihood of flooding over the intended period of occupation means that property and landowners can consider if they need to invest in any flood resilience measures at their property.
Why is it important to have a flood risk report?
Flooding has a devastating impact on people’s lives and with reports suggesting an increase of these events by as much as 27% between 2039 and 2069, it is vital to understand how a flood risk report can help you to protect your future home and business.
While flood reports are not mandatory, property purchasers must undertake the necessary due diligence to understand the risks. It may not always be obvious that a property is at risk of flooding. Even if you’re not living by the sea or a river, surface water runoff could still be an issue, and that’s where a phase 1 environmental assessment can help bring clarity on flood risk. This assessment reviews the various types of flooding, exploring a wide range of environmental and historical data records to determine the likelihood and severity of flooding from surface water, rivers or the sea.
Increasingly common sources of flood risk include:
- Flooding from rivers and coastlines
- Flooding from surface water (which occurs when the volume of rainwater falling is unable to drain away through existing drainage systems or by filtering into the ground)
- Groundwater (on the ground surface)
- Overflowing sewers
What is included in a flood risk report?
To know whether a flood risk report is worthwhile, you’ll want to know what information is typically included:
- Flood risk
- Insurance rating
- Flood mitigation
- Flood resilience
- Flood history
- Guidance for property owners
Flood risk
Working with Future Climate Info (FCI) we provide the FCI Flood Appraisal service which is a flood risk report offering a property specific in-depth analysis of known flood risks. As a starting point, when looking into whether a property might be in a flood zone, it’s worth looking at the long-term flood risk mapping.
Insurance rating
Your insurance rating highlights whether you might find it more difficult to get insurance for a property based on the perceived flood risk.
Flood mitigation
Here our Flood Mitigation Survey and accompanying reports are also useful and undertaken in line with the latest CIRIA Code of practice for property resilience (C790). You’ll also see details of current flood defences in the area.
Flood Resilience
We consider flood resistance and resilience approaches where it is deemed feasible. Having the knowledge clearly and unambiguously presented can make a real difference and does not always spell disaster for your purchase.
Flood history
Using property specific data from local sources, our team can identify what types of flooding have potentially occurred in the area and how this can impact the insurability and implications of mortgage applications.
How long is a flood risk report valid for?
A flood risk report is typically valid between three and six months. Due to the ever-changing risk of flooding, these reports need to be recent to be relevant. However, that doesn’t mean you need to get a new report done every six months. This may only be required for the purposes of securing planning permission or to satisfy a new mortgage lender or insurance provider.
Does it matter where you get your flood risk report from?
Where you get your flood risk report from matters. Service providers differ on how comprehensive their sources of information are. But, more to the point, not all flood risk consultants provide a prompt report when it’s needed.
At Ashfield Solutions, we understand speed is of the essence during the home buying process, and that is why every report can be turned around within three working days. In comparison, a traditional flood report may take up to four weeks to complete.
Find out more about flood risk from our flood risk consultants.