If you’re looking to sell a home in a flood zone and at high risk of flooding, there are a number of things you should consider.
Climate change has increased the number of floods in the UK significantly. Homes that have never flooded before are being impacted, while those which have a history of flooding are being affected more frequently and on a more severe scale.
When it comes to selling your home, this can cause all sorts of challenges and delays. For those buying it can present a significant risk, which can prove problematic.
If you’re looking to sell a home in a flood zone and at high risk of flooding, there are a number of things you should consider.
Mentioning Historic Flooding
There’s no legal requirement that you must tell a potential buyer that your property has suffered from historic flooding directly, although you will have to fill information out about this in your Seller’s Property Information Form.
More specifically it asks the question:
“Has any part of the property (whether buildings or surrounding garden or land) ever been flooded?”
This is then sent to the buyer’s solicitor, so therefore a buyer will become aware. Flooding will also be discovered during the Environmental Search Report, so it’s always best to be up front and honest about it.
Flood Zone Tiers
What you should be aware of, that can often be the difference between a home selling and struggling is the flood zone you are in.
Flood Zones are graded by the government and offer insight into how high risk your property is of flooding. This is broken down as follows:
- High: These are the areas with the most severe chance of flooding, and have over a 3.3% chance of it flooding each year. This also takes flood defences into account.
- Medium: These areas have a 1-3.3% chance of flooding each year, again taking into account the effects of defences.
- Low: Low risk are areas of the UK which have a 0.1% to 1% chance of yearly flooding.
- Very Low: This risk level is given to those UK areas with less than a 0.1% chance of flooding each year.
Additionally, it is always worth noting the type of flooding, whether it be coastal, rivers, surface water, sewers etc.
Detailing this information and the circumstances will also be helpful, as exceptional circumstances could mean that it’s highly unlikely to happen again.
Offer Details On Flood Prevention
As well as detailing the type of flooding a home has suffered, it’s also worth detailing the flood prevention and defences in place.
Highlight all the details about your home and the area, including noting the defences put in place since the property was last flooded.
Getting To The Sale
By being upfront you are much more likely to get the sale as all information will be laid out for the relevant parties to make a decision.
Alternatively, if you’re looking for a fast sale or you’re finding it a struggle to get the sale, here at Property Rescue we can help.
We have a team of experts that can help sell your home to us no matter what the condition or risk of flooding. We offer a smooth and completely open process that suits your needs, with fast sales possible in just 48 hours.
Get in touch with our dedicated home buyers today and discuss your options further on 0808 302 9637 or head to our contact form and we’ll be in touch as soon as possible.