People still not making flood checks before moving

Sixty two percent of respondents to a new YouGov survey, which was commissioned by property data company Landmark Information Group, stated that they have never checked the flood risk level of their home. Only 23% of people checked flood risk before moving into their current home despite increased incidents of flood events across the country. Twelve percent say they check afterwards.

People in Scotland are the least likely to have carried out any checks with 77% confirming they had never researched their flood risk. This was followed by those in London (71%), 65% of those in the North West of England and 63% in Yorkshire and Humber. These figures are revealed only days after more than 100 flood alerts were issued – predominantly in Yorkshire – by the Environment Agency, following a deluge of a month’s worth of rain in just a matter of hours across the country.

The survey also found that just 6% of people have a flood plan and would know how to put it into action if a flood was to occur. More than a third (35%) admitted that they do not have a plan and wouldn’t know what to do if they were to experience a flood. Almost half (49%) said they didn’t have a flood plan, yet felt they would know what to do in the event of a flood.

The research went on to identify that there is confusion over who is responsible for protecting a home against flooding. Respondents considered a range of organisations that they believe have a responsibility to protect homes against flooding including the Local Council (62%), the Environment Agency (60%), and Homeowners (if living in the home) (54%). Landlords (if renting the home) (43%), the Government (37%) and tenants (21%) were also cited as being responsible for protecting a home against flooding, with 8% not being sure where responsibility falls.

According to the Environment Agency, over five million properties are at risk of flooding – of which 2.4 million properties are at risk from the sea or rivers, and a larger share of 2.8 million properties are at risk of surface water flooding, which isn’t always visibly apparent.

When buying a new property, it’s a good idea to ask your conveyancing professional for information on risks of this nature.

Free app 'Know your flood risk' Free Download ‘Property Flood Resilience e-Book’, which contains many case studies that focus on the steps people have taken to make their properties resilient to future flooding.