Watch That Waterfront Property

Paris, France
July 28, 2007

Yet again we're reminded of the dangers of not doing your homework before you invest in property. Continued unexpectedly heavy rainfall in the English Midlands has caused massive flooding, leaving hundreds of residents homeless or trapped as the rising waters fill the ground floors of their homes.

Particularly at risk are recent waterfront properties. Huge demand for desirable new developments along riversides and on scenic-but-hazardous flood plains has meant that building applications have been approved too swiftly. Local councils insist that flood defenses were adequate but clearly this is not the case. A new project for 250 new homes in Tewkesbury, Gloucestershire at the heart of this natural disaster, is currently under several feet of mud and water after the local rivers Severn and Avon broke through their banks. And this is in the UK, remember, not a developing country where lax building supervision is almost a given.

Insurance payments-if they cover such natural disasters-can be slow in coming, and are small compensation for the distress of clearing up. In these times of global warming and uncertain weather patterns, it pays to make double checks on where your new home is going to be built, and what precautions have been taken to protect the land.

Best regards,

Maria Savage
International Living's European Consultant