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Buying Property in the 2000 Flood Area

On 22 Aug 2008 at 11:31am El Drako wrote:

From what I can establish, property prices in the Cliffe High St. area do not seem to have suffered any significant adverse effect from the 2000 flood. Am I right and if so how come?

On 22 Aug 2008 at 11:41am El Drako wrote:

Sorry, to clarify my previous post, I realise that all prices are currently suffering but, historically, did the flood of 2000 do much damage to prices in the Cliffe High St. area and if not, how come?

On 22 Aug 2008 at 11:42am Lewes Laugher wrote:

People forget.

On 22 Aug 2008 at 11:15pm pinto wrote:

prices certainly were effected round 2004 when we were looking to move. at that point you coudl get an extra room fo ryour . all went nutty after that - now it seems people have forgotten all about it. not sure hat teh insurance situation is. must be aheck of a premium hike considering.

On 23 Aug 2008 at 12:34am El Drako wrote:

Thanks for replying. Any more opinions/local knowledge on this would be much appreciated.

On 23 Aug 2008 at 11:26am sashimi wrote:

When we were looking 2 years ago a house in South Street that flooded to 1m was about the same price as an equivalent house on the Nevill Estate and the seller was having a struggle marketing it. If it wasn't in the flood zone it would probably have been 30% more. The Cliffe is due to get a flood defence by 2011 which will provide some protection from river and tidal flooding and will make insurance easier. But it is still vulnerable to run off from the Downs and from the drains - and the flood defences makes this marginally worse by trapping the flood water. To answer your question, El Drako, the flood defences probably mean that Cliffe High Street property prices will hold their own or improve a bit relative to elsewhere. If you have to sell quickly expect to have to discount quite a bit. In the end it's a personal decision. If you are a nervous type, you'll be jumpy every time it rains and it isn't worth the hassle. If you can be laid back, enjoy being in a better place than you can afford and hope your luck holds and you don't have to get out the mop and bucket.

On 27 Aug 2008 at 12:04am El Drako wrote:

Thank you Sashimi; most helpful.

On 31 Aug 2008 at 9:38pm scarlet wrote:

we brought a flood damaged house in the spinneys in 2003 and we sold again in 2004 and had no trouble selling maybe the prices were a little bit less than they should of been but i wasn,t aware that they were.but have a shop in cliffe high st and unfortunatly have to keep with same insurance company as no other company will touch us because of where we are located

On 2 Sep 2008 at 4:27pm dats wrote:

My house flooded in 2000 (I bought it in 2004) and initially I was wary about buying in this area. However, after a few months of looking everywhere else in the town, I ended up in the Cliffe after realising that the chances of flooding were relatively low, at least for a while - that I would get some warning if flooding was imminent (Spring tides, constant rain for several days, high winds etc) but most importantly, that I found an insurer who covers flood as standard.