Flood risk
The seller's form says the lane flooded and the current area map does not shade the house. Which record is a memory, and which is a map of the area?
The seller's form is a memory: someone reports that the lane flooded. The current area map is a map of the area, and on it the house is not shaded. They are not the same record, and neither is a depth the survey measured. A reported flood in the lane can be true while a long-term area map leaves the building unshaded, because a map of the area is not a diary of the road. The survey has not tested flood depth and has not chosen a winner between the form and the map.
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?
GOV.UK's flood check is about long-term risk for an area, shown as shading. A seller's form is what the seller says happened. Memory can be vague about how far the water came, and a map can leave a house unshaded even where a lane has flooded. The home survey can record that both exist. It cannot reconstruct the water or measure it. Treating either record as the cancellation of the other overclaims both.
Give both to the solicitor and to your insurer, and say which is the form and which is the map. Ask the seller, through the solicitor, what they actually saw and when, without treating that reply as a surveyed depth. Do not tell a lender the house has no flood history because the area map is unshaded. The survey has not measured water and has not deleted the seller's report.
What should you ask your surveyor?
- Which document is the seller's report that the lane flooded?
- Which document is the area map, and does it shade this house?
- Did you measure any flood depth, or only record the two sources?
What are the typical next steps?
- Call the seller's form a reported memory and the shading a map of the area.
- Do not treat an unshaded house as the deletion of the lane note.
- Pass both records to the solicitor and the insurer as separate things.
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
If the map is clear, can the seller's sentence be ignored?
No. The map is a map of the area and it does not shade the house. The seller's form is a separate memory that the lane flooded. One does not erase the other. The survey has not measured a depth and has not decided the memory is wrong. Keep both. An unshaded plot is not a statement that the lane never held water.
Does a dry visit prove the lane will not flood again?
No. Dry ground on the day of inspection is the weather you happened to get. It is not the seller's memory and it is not the area map. The survey did not measure flood depth and did not model the lane. A dry path does not shade or unshade the map, and it does not edit the form.