Factsheet: River & coastal flooding

What is river and coastal flooding?

River flooding

Also known as fluvial flooding, occurs when a rivers water level rises and overflows its banks onto the surrounding land.

Coastal flooding

Coastal flooding occurs when seawater inundates low lying land along the coast. It is commonly caused by storm surges, or when the seawater overtops or breaches coastal defences such as dunes and dikes.

What is the data based on?

The dataset used is known as RoFRaS (Risk of Flooding from Rivers and the Sea). This dataset broadly assesses the likelihood of flooding from both river and tidal sources, and calculates the likelihood of flooding to areas of land within the floodplain of an extreme flood event. This dataset takes into account flood defences and considers the likelihood that these defences will over top or breach.

What are Flood Zones?

Flood zones are a guidance tool used by the Environment Agency to identify areas of land which form part of the floodplain, i.e. the area that will flood during a river or coastal flood event.

Further information is available in our User Guide.

What should a purchaser do next (residential)?

The recommended next steps are based on the property age, and the presence of a basement. These will be detailed within the report but may include:

Ensure buildings and contents insurance covering flood risk is available and affordable;
Make enquiries of the seller (e.g. in the TA6) and other nearby residents on any flooding that may have occurred;
Sign up to the Environment Agency's Flood Warnings and Alerts https://www.gov.uk/sign-up-for-flood-warnings;
Investigate the various forms of flood resistance and resilience measures that will help protect your property in the event of a flood;
Create a flood plan https://check-for-flooding.service.gov.uk/plan-ahead-for-flooding;
The assessment is based on the highest flood risk found within the site boundary. Whilst the maps within the report provide a visual representation, we are able to provide a manual flood assessment breaking down the risk to the main dwelling/building and the outside areas. Please contact us at info@groundsure.com

If the property was built before 2009 it may be eligible for the Flood Re scheme. Whilst the property may qualify the decision to insure through Flood Re rests with your insurance provider. You may wish to enquire with them further on this. Properties built after 2009 are not eligible as the property should have been designed in a way to protect against flooding.

If the property has recently been constructed, the risk assessment within this report will not take into account measures put in place by the developer. This should be factored in when making any purchase decisions.

What should a purchaser do next (commercial)?

The recommended next steps are based on the property age, and the presence of a basement. These will be detailed within the report but may include:

Ensure buildings and contents insurance covering flood risk and business interruption is available and affordable;
Make enquiries of the seller and other nearby businesses on any flooding that may have occurred;
Sign up to the Environment Agency's Flood Warnings and Alerts https://www.gov.uk/sign-up-for-flood-warnings;
Investigate the various forms of flood resistance and resilience measures that will help protect your property in the event of a flood;
Create a flood plan, including evacuation and business continuity https://check-for-flooding.service.gov.uk/plan-ahead-for-flooding. The flood maps within this report may be of assistance in identifying higher risk areas;

If the property has a basement this is an additional entry point for flood waters and could increase the severity of any damage caused. We recommend seeking specialist advice on ways to mitigate or reduce the ingress of water.