Selling a home can be a minefield of paperwork, legal jargon and compliance at the best of times but you’d be surprised how many homeowners think that skirting over a few facts might help get them the fast sale they hoped for.
When selling a home, there are particular things that as a homeowner, you are legally obliged to declare. Failing to do so could see financial penalties, possible prosecution and maybe the reversal of the sale. One such example is flooding. If your home has ever encountered flooding, you must declare it when you sell your house. Regardless of whether that flooding took place last week or five years ago, full transparency is required.
Does a seller have to disclose flooding?
Yes. Disclosing past incidents of flooding make up part of your TA6 form. The TA6 form is used when you accept an offer on your property and enables you to inform the potential buyers of a wealth of details about the history of the property and any incidents that may have affected it.
There is a specific section relating to flooding where you must display, in detail, what happened, where it happened and what has been done to prevent it from happening again. Of course, it isn’t possible to make something 100% flood proof but if preventative measures have been put in place, they need to be mentioned.
Honesty is important here for many reasons. Attempting to hide the fact flooding has occurred would see you fall foul of The Misrepresentation Act 1967 which could see you face legal challenges later on. In addition, the environmental searches carried out by the conveyancer should uncover any flooding issues therefore proving you lied. This could then see the buyer pull out or reduce their offer significantly.
I flooded my kitchen because a pipe was leaking, do I have to declare that?
Even though your kitchen may have flooded in this instance. It isn’t defined as a flood as far as your TA6 goes. You can still mention it, but this would be classed as an escape of water rather than a flood.
In most cases, insurance companies define a flood as an incident where external water has entered the property and its grounds. This could stem from a river bursting its bank, burst water mains, or excessive rainfall for example.
An escape of water is where water has caused damage to the property from a leak within it or where an isolated incident has occurred. For example, a hole in the roof or a missing window that allows water to enter the property would be classed as an isolated incident as it is unlikely that other homeowners encountered flooding from this rainfall.
Will flooding devalue my property?
It can do, and by quite significant amounts. It will all depend on how recently the flooding occurred and what has been done to prevent it from happening again. Typically, a property with only one flood incident in the last fifty years will be unlikely to see a change in value whereas a property that has seen flooding occur within the past twelve months may see a large chunk of the real value lost.
The area you live in also plays a part. Some areas are determined to have higher flood risk than others and this can see a property valued differently to one only a short distance away. For example, it has previously been reported that a house in Kent could lose almost £28,000 in value if the area is determined to have a flood risk. Should this flood risk be categorised as “high flood risk” that loss in value could leap to more than £100,000.
What happens if you do not disclose flooding when selling a house?
If you decide not to declare flooding on your TA6 form, you could say you are guaranteeing your house is not selling. It is a legal requirement to disclose the flood history of your property and if you choose to hide it, the environmental searches should uncover it anyway.
This attempt to hide it, only to have it later uncovered, will make you appear less trustworthy to buyers and could see them walk away or make a lower offer. Not an ideal outcome!
If you fail to declare flooding and no past history has been disclosed in the searches, you could also see yourself facing high legal costs or even have the sale reversed with you having to buy the property back. This will likely see you out of pocket considerably and therefore struggle to fund the purchase of the house you were hoping to buy either now or in the future.
Can I sell a house that has flooding history?
You can, it just might be a little harder than you had hoped. Ensuring flood history is declared on the TA6 will go a great way to helping a sale materialise. As mentioned earlier, if you don’t disclose flooding when selling a house, you are likely to see your property plans disrupted as your sale will likely be cancelled and you might even face huge financial penalties.
Those looking to buy may be put off by the flood history but for those still keen, problems may remain. Some lenders see a mortgage as too risky for properties with a flood history. Especially if recent, and not much has been done to prevent future incidents.
That being said, if appropriate work has been done, there have been no recent flooding incidents, and the property is still desirable, a sale is achievable.
If you are looking for estate agents in Epsom to help you get your property put in front of keen buyers, speak to our team at Cairds. As an independent estate agent, we focus on the personal touch to make sure our focus is all on you and your property. With conveyancing services in Epsom as part of our offering too, we streamline the property processes so everything can run smoothly. Why not give us a call today to find your new home or list your current one?