Greater than £50 billion value of property was bought throughout flood zones final yr

The most recent analysis from Searchland, the event web site sourcing specialists, has revealed that to date this yr, £2.2bn value of residential and industrial property has been bought inside flood zones throughout England, with virtually half (49%) positioned in areas with the very best chance of flooding.

The info from Searchland appeared on the whole worth of residential and industrial property bought throughout each FZ2 and FZ3 flood zones, with FZ2 zones categorized as having a medium chance of flooding, whereas FZ3 zones are categorized as having a excessive chance or outlined as purposeful floodplains, with each posing a hazard of both river or sea flooding.

The analysis reveals that the entire worth of property bought with flood zones throughout England had been on the decline. In 2018 flood zone property gross sales totalled £63bn throughout England, falling -6.5% in 2019 and an additional -1.3% in 2020 to a complete of £58.1bn in worth.

The pandemic growth resulted in a pointy improve within the whole worth of flood zone properties bought, as residential patrons, particularly, scrambled to buy houses in scorching market circumstances the place demand far outweighed out there inventory.

Because of this, the entire worth of floodplain property gross sales soared to £72.2bn, a yr on yr improve of 24.3%. £37.5bn value of this property was positioned throughout FZ2 flood zones, nonetheless, a notable £34.7bn was bought throughout FZ3 areas posing the best menace of flooding.

Nevertheless, the entire worth of flood zone property gross sales did scale back in 2022, falling by -30.3% yr on yr to £50.3bn and sitting some -20% under the entire seen in 2018.

An extra discount could possibly be on the playing cards in 2023, with cooler market circumstances seeing the entire worth of property bought throughout flood zones in the course of the first two months of this yr totalling simply £2.2bn.

Co-founder and CEO of Searchland, Mitchell Fasanya mentioned, “Flooding is an especially severe subject and one that may trigger devastation to the houses and livelihoods of these worst hit by it. Sadly, it’s a difficulty that solely appears to be rising worse and whereas sure areas could also be categorized as decrease threat in the present day, there’s no assure it will stay the case sooner or later.

It’s clear that the nation’s householders and industrial traders are rising weary of the menace introduced by flooding as, except for a pandemic impressed spike, the entire worth of houses bought inside flood zones has been falling over the past 5 years.

Regardless of this discount, over £50bn value of property was bought throughout flood zones final yr, with round half of that positioned in areas with the very best menace. This demonstrates the desperation that many face in relation to climbing the ladder or when buying a industrial plot, with inadequate inventory ranges leaving them with little alternative however to purchase inside a flood zone.”