Find out about flood risks before you buy

I hope you're not already affected by flooding. It can be a very unpleasant situation to be in, and my thoughts are with those people who's homes are currently at risk, and have experienced flooding in the past.

With the current flood warnings in force for a big chunk of the English coastline, I thought it would be a good idea to remind you to address this risky issue when you are thinking about buying your new home.

Of course, your conveyancer will check flood risks for you as part of the 'searches' which are done when you agree to buy a property, but don't wait until then to find out if your property could be at risk. Remember, by the time you get to conveyancing, you are paying for a professional service from the conveyancer, your mortgage has probably been agreed, and you have invested a lot of time, effort and emotion in the property you're buying.

The best thing to do is to find out about flood risk for the general area(s) that you are looking at buying in, before you even settle on a particular property.

You can do this for free on the Environment Agency's website.
Click here to go straight to the flooding section of the site.

By typing in the postcode or town of the area you're house-hunting in, you can very quickly see on a map the extent of any local flood risk, and any flood defences that are already in place.

Of course the site has lots of other information too - like a seach facility for local pollution risks. You can find out an awful lot of information about your neighbourhood this way, so I suggest you check it out.

Take care,

Tam