Traffic lights to show homes’ flood risk

The Association of British Insurers (ABI) is urging estate agents and property websites to provide up-front information about flood risk, using a simple traffic-light style mark, as it reveals that fewer than one in three people researched the flood risk of the property before buying their current home. It sounds simple but will it put buyers off before they even view a property with anything less than a ‘green light’? Greg Bryce, Managing Director of SearchFlow, property intelligence specialists, says, “There has been a growing focus within the industry to improve the transparency and quality of information for homebuyers prior to their purchase. With so few buyers investigating flood risk when buying a home, the call from the Association of British Insurers (ABI) for more upfront information on flooding is welcomed. “However, the information proposed by the ABI should not be construed as a definitive risk assessment or unnecessarily deter people from purchasing a property. Regardless of whether flood risk information is made available on property details from the outset, it is recommended that conveyancers conduct specific searches for flood risk, and to arrange for an in-depth assessment by a technical expert if there is any flood risk to the property. “Homebuyers informed of…