Flood Risk On New Properties

[rosehipseed]

If you buy a new house, which later tuurns out to be on a flood plain, who is liable?
Is it the builder, the planners who gave permission, or the Environment Agency for not raising the flood risk as an issue?
Has anybody successfully sued?

[ToraToraTora]

caveat emptor!

[Old_Geezer]

My pure guess is that no one is liable. Been building on flood plains for centuries. No one takes responsibility do they ? I await an informed opinion but my suspicion is that it is a case of buyer beware. Find out if the place is on a flood plain before purchase, and if it is, what defences are in place and being maintained properly.

[daffy654]

If I were buying a house I would go to the environment agency website and check for myself if the area is at risk of flood.

http://www.environment-agency.gov.uk/homeandleisure/floods/default.aspx

[rosehipseed]

If planning permission has been given, most people would suppose that any flood risk was either none existent or mitigated. After all, we are not all hydrologists.

[Baldric]

Let the buyer beware

as Tora x 3 said

[woofgang]

Its possible now to check floor risk online...you don't even have to be able to spell "hydrologist"

[woofgang]

Who are these "most people" who "would suppose"?

[buildersmate]

Who is liable? - you are, then you refer it to your insurer.

Planners do establish that the proposed development is not at significant risk of flooding, as per the Environment Agency maps, but these maps provide a risk assessment based on probabilities of an event every 100 years.

In any event, very localised flooding can and does occur that is not trackable to a major enough river course - a minor brook with a stream normally can become a torrent for a few short minutes of downpour a few miles away. In those situations it will never be tracked by the Environment Agency maps.
You don't need to be a hydrologist, you just need common-sense, A commodity sadly lacking in many people these days.

[FredPuli43]

On what grounds would someone sue, pray? No chance, but everybody wants to blame somebody else nowadays. The buyer is bound and expected to make enquiries; that is why their solicitor sends out a questionnaire for the vendor to answer, as well as making enquiries for the buyer.

[Peter Pedant]

it appears to be lawful in the UK
try googling 'legal building floodplain'
the only refs are American who seem to have a law for everything

[bushbaby_de]

It is perfectly legal to build on the flood plain but the EA provide advice on what sort of uses are better suited depending on the precise nature and extent of the flood risk, and will recommend mitigation measures to be designed into the development to minimise the flood risk and maximise the potential for safe evacuation of the property should the worst happen. The Local Planning Authority then decides whether or not to grant planning permission.

When buying a house, the solicitor offers a number of local searches which includes flood risk, the terms of the planning permission etc. If you did not pay for these searches you have no come-back. If the searches came back clear but the EA say you are in an area of flood risk you need to ask your solicitor to follow this up as either they or the Council made an error. However I doubt you will get much recompense - what exactly are you hoping for?

[rosehipseed]

I am hoping to find a lever to discourage planners from sanctioning building on flood plain, or similarly unsuitable land. Some matters require legal protections. Food contamination is one. Fitting of gas appliances is another. The matter of damages is less important than a legally enforceable duty of care.

[FredPuli43]

Your problem, rose, is that planning authorities will consider the nature of the site and one of the first things they will look for is the flood plain. If they decide to permit building, you are stuck with it. If the development is under consideration, an interested party can raise an objection and the site being on a flood plain could be one.

[MadMen]

No one is "liable".

You'll pay a premium on your insurance for being in a flood risk area.

You should have checked this out before you bought the house.

[bushbaby_de]

If new buildings were not allowed in areas of flood risk we'd all be living in 300 storey buildings in towns the size of a postage stamp. What you are proposing is completely impossible to achieve.

[bushbaby_de]

Oh I forgot to add, I also don't see how you would ever be able to establish a legal duty of care between the planning authority and a future resident in those circumstances. If you are an aggrieved resident you have recourse through the Local Government Ombudsman if there was a procedural error in allowing the permission, or through the High Court if there was a legal error. But if you are trying to change the law or planning policy you need to lobby central government.