Flood risk
Does a dry day of inspection mean the house has no flood history?
No. The surveyor sees that day. A dry floor is not a history. GOV.UK’s long-term check is about area risk, and it says it does not tell you the likelihood for an individual property. Past flooding, if it matters, is a question for the seller’s forms, the searches and insurers, not a conclusion from dry wallpaper.
Last reviewed 24 October 2026. Written for buyers in England and Wales unless this answer says otherwise. No named surveyor has signed this page. It is general guidance, not a report on your house, and not legal advice.
What is the fuller explanation?
Stains, replaced skirtings, flood doors and raised sockets are visible clues the survey can record. They are clues, not dates. The absence of clues is not a certificate. Sellers answer property questions in the conveyancing forms. Your solicitor tells you what was answered. The survey does not complete those forms.
Scotland’s Home Report and England’s searches are different packs. Do not expect one country’s form inside the other. Nowhere does a visual inspection become an insurance declaration. No excess and no premium are stated on this page. A seller’s sentence that the house “has never flooded” is not a search result and not a finding in the survey.
What should you ask your surveyor?
- Did you see any physical sign of past water at ground floor or in the cellar?
- Are you limiting your comment to the day of inspection?
- Have you been shown any flood survey by the seller?
What are the typical next steps?
- Ask your solicitor what the forms and searches say about flooding.
- Do not read a dry photograph as a clear history.
- Tell insurers the address and let them underwrite it. Do not invent an excess from the survey.
Costs vary with the building and with who you instruct. Where this page does not cite a published figure, ask the surveyor, a relevant specialist, or your solicitor for a written quote. Do not treat a forum average as the price.
Also asked about this
Are tide marks in a cellar always river flooding?
No. They can be groundwater, a leak, or condensation. The survey should not rename them as a flood zone.
Does a dehumidifier mean the house flooded?
It means someone was drying air. Ask why. Do not upgrade an appliance into a history.