What does the search cover, and what does it leave out?
The report takes the Environment Agency and Natural Resources Wales flood models, overlays them with surface water and groundwater data and any recorded events, and reports the risk for the property itself. It also indicates whether insurers are likely to offer cover on normal terms. It does not inspect the property, and it cannot tell you whether water has ever come through the door. That is a question for the seller, who is asked it directly on the property information form.
Where the result shows risk, the source matters. Surface water risk can often be reduced locally with resilience measures and better drainage. River and coastal risk cannot be moved, but may be mitigated by community defences the report will note. Groundwater is the hardest to defend against and the least often discussed.
| Revealed by the search | Not revealed |
|---|---|
| Modelled river and coastal flood risk at the property | Whether the house itself has flooded, that is the seller's answer |
| Surface water flood risk from overwhelmed drains | Whether the drains are in good order, that is the drainage search and a survey |
| Groundwater flood risk | The exact depth or frequency of any future flood |
| Recorded flood events at or near the property | Damage that was repaired and not reported |
| Whether flood defences protect the area | Whether those defences will be maintained |
| An indication of insurability and Flood Re eligibility | An actual premium, that needs a quotation from an insurer |
What is Flood Re and does it cover this property?
Flood Re is a reinsurance scheme set up under the Water Act 2014 that lets insurers pass the flood element of a home policy to a fund backed by a levy on the industry. For eligible homes the flood premium the insurer passes across is capped by council tax band, using nine bands in Wales against eight in England, and the excess on a flood claim is fixed by the scheme at 250 pounds (Flood Re published rates, checked 20 September 2026). It is why homes at real risk can still usually be insured at a sensible price.
It does not cover everything. Homes built on or after 1 January 2009 are excluded, so that the scheme does not subsidise new development on floodplains. Blocks of more than three residential flats, and commercial and mixed-use premises, are outside it for buildings cover. Residential buy to let is not excluded as a category, and Flood Re lists it among the properties it expects to qualify, but the scheme also requires the policy to be held by an individual and the policyholder or their family to live there for at least part of the time, or the property to be empty, so a tenanted let and a landlord portfolio policy often fall outside it in practice. That is a question to put to the insurer rather than one to assume either way. Flood Re's published plan is to end the scheme in 2039, after which the market is expected to price flood risk in full (checked 20 September 2026). Where the property is outside Flood Re, the quotation before exchange is essential rather than prudent.
Should I still buy a house at flood risk?
Many people do, sensibly. The question is not the colour on the map but three practical points: can you insure it at a premium you can live with, has the seller told you the truth about its history, and will the next buyer be able to say the same. If the answer to all three is yes, a property at risk is a property with a known cost, which is a better position than an unknown one.
Ask the seller directly, and read the answer with the report in hand; an inaccurate reply on the property information form can found a claim after completion. Look for resilience measures already in place, flood doors, airbrick covers, raised sockets, a pump, since each reduces both the risk and the premium. Where the risk is real and the price does not reflect it, that is a conversation to have before exchange, and we set it out for you.