"chris French" wrote in message
...
Ok, not DIY, but it's the sort of thing some people here will have
knowledge about. given the increasing in flooding we've seen, and
predictions for increased frequency in the future, this seems to be
something to take seriously. Esp. as I suspect it's something insurance
co.'s now have a 'thing' about.

There is a good possibility that we may be moving from Leeds to the
Cambridge/Huntingdon area this year, depending on how SWMBO's new job
hunting goes.

We've been on the web of course having a look at potential houses, now
of course being where it is, quite a lot of those are on the Fens (We
are looking for a country property). On the face of it potentially, an
area prone to flooding, however, in the recent floods, it's somewhere
that I remember having a lot of problems, presumably, because of the
nature of the place, the drainage etc. systems are already in place to
deal with it -to an extent anyway.

so I've been trying to find some info on this, but haven't found much
really helpful.

The environment agency does have maps with flooding risks, but the
current ones take no account of flood defences etc., so of course the
fens are all coloured blue as a flood risk, not very helpful.

anyone have knowledge of this, or can point me to source of info?

One of the insurance companies (I think Norwich Union) has done a much more
detailed anaylsis of flood risk. They hope to get an edge on the competition
by offereing lower premiums to houses where local conditions reduce the
risk. They may be able to help. Even just getting a quote from them might be
a good indication of the risk.

The other way is to look yourself for any small rises in the ground that
might indicate a reduced risk. You may be able to find that from spot
heights on a large scale OS map of the area. Also old churches tend to be
built on ground that is more likely to remain dry in the worst winters, so
buying next to the village church may well reduce the risk of flooding,
although it greatly increases your risk of wanting to strangle bell-ringers.

However, if I had to live in the flat, uninteresting and wind-swept part of
the country, I would probably follow the example of one farmer and build a
large embankment around my house and garden.

Colin Bignell