Flood Land

From: Cathy Baxter


Hi

Am considering a land purchase of 5000 sq m which is within our council's 1 in 100 year flood area. However much of the block has been built up and is above that of the surrounding land. A survey will confirm whether the land is above or below the flood line.

Has anyone had any experiences good or bad from purchasing and / or building on flood prone land?

Any feedback welcome.

Thanks
Cathy
 
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Reply: 1
From: Michael Croft


Hi Cathy,

I've built in a 1 in 100 (and a 1 in 50)flood area and the council gave a minimum height for FFL (finished floor level), does yours? If so, how high is that above natural ground level (which may be different from councils datum level) ? as it will affect construction costs.

A good surveyor familiar with the area should be able to give good advice. Construction technique is not a lot different so the costs should be about the same (allowing for the height dif of course).

Michael Croft
"The best parachute folders are those who jump themselves."
 
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Reply: 1.1
From: Cathy Baxter


Michael

Yes council gives minimum floor levels but have not spoken to them in detail yet. Will talk to my surveyor friend.

Thanks for your advice.

Cathy
 
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Reply: 1.1.1
From: Michael Yardney


Cathy
There is a similar situation in much of Melbourne, which now has a new flood overlay. This means most suburbs have been assessed for their probability of having that 1 in 100 year flood.
What this means is all new construction must be built at least 600mm above this flood level. Even if surrounding older houses were built below this level.
As Michael C said, a surveyor should be able to give you the level of the land and the council will tell you at what height you must build.
Depending upon how low the land lies and therefore how much off it your floor level must be will determine if there will be extra cost.
For example if you have to build much more than 600 above the ground, you probably won't be able to build on a concrete slab but will need strip footings. This plus the steps up and the extra rows of bricks will increase the building cost so you should take this into account.
You may be able to use this as a bargaining point when purchasing.
Michael Yardney
Metropole Properties
 
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Reply: 1.1.1.1
From: Cathy Baxter


Thanks Michael

The property is a huge block behind an old 3 bed house divided into 2 flats the purchaser needs the block that the house is on otherwise it's landlocked. It's being sold for the value of the house as a rental property only, rather than for the potential of the land. Which i think is a bit sus so i now have permission to inspect the council files and found out if there are any previous DAs and have a chat to council officers.

Do you suggest anything else I should do?

We really are in 2 minds about the purchase as it is a huge investment as the property could take between 10 and 20 dwellings.

It's a bit scary and we would need to sell our current business to fund it - but it could create great passive income for our retirement.

Or we could just sit on it and take the rental income and wait for values to increase here (ha ha).

Cathy
 
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