At Flood Protection Solutions Ltd, we are passionate about raising awareness of flood risk, and helping reduce the risk. If you haven’t already, we highly recommend watching our documentary on the Real Impact of Being Flooded here> Video
We were recently featured in Property Investor Today, discussing how to minimise flood risk when investing in property.
Understanding the flood risk of a property is the first step to managing that risk and being prepared for what the future holds.
Around 5.2 million homes in England, or one in six properties, are at risk from flooding.
Being flooded is a horrible, traumatic experience. Filthy brown water devastates the ground floor of your home, contaminating everything in its path and creating huge upheaval, expense and stress.
Despite this, a YouGov Survey for Know Your Flood Risk found that 67% of residents and homeowners do not know their flood risk.
For the majority of us, our homes will be the most expensive purchase we will ever make, and so due diligence on flood risk is vital. Would you buy a second-hand car that has no MOT or service history?
Depending upon the due-diligence reporting that you obtain for a property, a risk from flooding may be identified. This is no reason to cause instant alarm, it is simply an indication that further understanding is required to define any risk that may exist.
Predictive modelling of various sources of flooding is now widely available. During the early 2000s flood modelling was only available to the public for river and sea flooding.
In 2010, reservoir breach modelling was then released by the Environment Agency. Although this has a lesser statistical probability of occurring, it is still prudent to understand, as was nearly witnessed at Whaley Bridge during July 2019.
Since 2016, the Environment Agency now also includes surface water mapping within its national mapping dataset. There are also other flood mapping sources that can be obtained through private agencies, including the risks that may come from groundwater or canal breaching.
Importantly, it should be noted flood modelling maps are limited by their resolution, and often enough, cannot be relied upon at a property specific level. These are after all undertaken on a national scale.
Understanding the limitations of these maps should be undertaken through seeking professional flood risk advice. The adviser’s role is to translate what the flood mapping is showing to what would likely happen on the ground, at property level.
For instance, flood modelling may not take into account that a property is elevated above the surrounding ground, therefore providing existing resistance to flooding.
Read The Full Article at Here at > Property Investor Today