Flood risk may hamper home sale, says National Homebuyers

If you live on a flood plain you may have real difficulty in trying to find someone to buy your property.

[UKPRwire, Tue Nov 13 2007] That is according to new research from Abbey, which reveals that 39.9 million adults would be put off buying a home if they knew it was on a flood plain.

Further to this, 22 per cent of people who previously lived in such an area reported having trouble when it came to selling the property because of the flood threat.

Tony Beckwith from Abbey Insurance says that people need to make a real effort to find out if the home they are buying is on a flood plain.

"The concern is that so many people are still unaware of the potential risk they might be facing," he said.

"Six million people assumed they would have been told before they moved into the house if it was at risk, but actually the responsibility lies with the person buying the house to find out.

"Maybe the introduction of Home information packs could have been more helpful by highlighting homes that have a history of flooding," added Mr Beckwith.

Fast property sale expert Julian King from National Homebuyers comments, "We have been purchasing properties from homeowners in flood plain areas for some time.

"Since the media picked up on the floods of 2006 and 2007, there has been hightened awareness of the potential risks and as such, many potential buyers are reducing their offers, making a fast property sale difficult for the vendor.

"The new research from Abbey does not surprise us at all. We further predict that we will continue to purchase properties from homeowners in - or close to - flood plain areas who are finding it difficult to sell their home for the forseeable future".

Mr King is a director of National Homebuyers, the UK's largest quick property sale firm, guaranteeing to make an offer to purchase any property surveyed for vendors who need a quick property sale.

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