Property and Flooding

[Lee Le Clercq]

We are in the early stages of looking at retirement properties in the Argenton sur Creuse area. My question concerns the river and flooding as one of the first considerations when buying a house in England nowadays is its proximity to a river or stream. Global warming it seems is bringing floods, in England at least, on a much more regular basis. Does anyone have information on the Creuse? Is a nice cottage with river frontage really as attractive as it seems?

[minesthechevy]

Hi

<<<Is a nice cottage with river frontage really as attractive as it seems?>>>

Well, would you buy one in England? Water is water wherever it is, and when there's just too much at any one time, I doubt that it'll be too bothered about what's in its way.....

Perhaps revising your requirements to exclude proximity to a river might be a good step.

[Lee Le Clercq]

Thanks for that and as a generalisation you are probably right. However we live close to small river in the UK now that never floods - I guess downstream drainage capacity is not a problem. I am asking for specific information regarding the Creuse. Is this a river prone to regular flooding or, like my little stream, never does?

[Bevdeforges]

France is a country that is built upon rivers and streams. And now and then some of them flood. In the last 15 or so years I've been living here, most of the serious flooding has been in the south - not in the area you're considering.

But, like you say, global warming and all, and who knows. In France you are rarely very far from some river or another. And if not a river, then one of the zillions (or so it seems) of canals that connect the various rivers.

You might ask at the local mairie about flooding - when was the last time they had floods in the area, or if there are any particular problem areas in town. In some areas, there is a whole administration set up to deal with the river - traffic on the river, services for those who live along the riverside (boat moorings or whatever). If there is something like that in the area in which you're looking, they might also be able to give you some information about flood risks in the area.
Cheers,
Bev

[minesthechevy]

You're correct, I dont know the area you're looking at - but I'll confirm what Bev says in that reply.

Our house was flooded in 2002 apparently - before we bought it - and we are about 8km from the nearest river. However, that particular flood carried away a campsite and several people died, so I'm told - so it WAS exceptional (Isere)

[giantpanda]

Hi!

First : Argenton sur Creuse is not in the Creuse but in the Indre ( 36)

When you buy a house, before you sign your " compromis de vente " ( precontract ) you get a diagnostic, which also concerns the local enviromental risks.

See here generalities given by the Prefecture:

Préfecture de l'Indre et les services de l'Etat dans l'Indre


Talk with Immobilier who will have a list of the local risksand may be able to give you more local facts.

Here direct details for Argenton sur Creuse:

Prim.net : ma commune face au risque majeur

Yours,

giantpanda

[pursangmk2]

Hello,
please be very careful re river front properties on the river creuse.It is a large and fast flowing river.
My wife and myself returned to england yesterday after the worst three weeks of our lives.We went in january this year to view a riverside challet near argenton-sur-creuse,the place was just what we had been looking for after many visits,returning home we decided to buy it an so started the procedure raising funds,etc.The immobiler had told us the river never came higher than it was in january,we paid the compromis de vente in march being told we would get completion by mid june,in late may the notaire asked us to send him the remainder of the money which we did,he made an appointment to complete on the 13th june (friday).On wednesday the 11th we were at a camp site in argenton when we got a call from the immobilier telling us that the property had been flooded two weeks earlier but that everthing would be covered by insurance we asked to view the site and did so that day,the place is built on a 5 foot 9 inch celler and had been flooded to 6 inches inside so that was 6 foot 3 inches of water,all the ceiling to the celler was ruined the joists were sodden as was all the blockwork,all the skirtings and floor coverings ruined,we were told everthing would be replaced but by now we were in shock we counted 8 large rats around the place but were told they would return to the river?? The reason we were given why the river had flooded was that someone had left a sluice gate open at a dam higher upriver,we have yet to confirm this.Later that day my wife fainted in a local supermarket and was taken by the fire brigade to a hospital 30kms away i had to follow the fire wagon,she was checked over and given tablets to reduce her blood pressure,no doubt caused by stress.Six hours later she was discharged not a pleasent experence.
We kept our appointment on the friday but the notaire was adamant that due to the outstanding insurance no completion could be done that day,that proved to be a blessing,we went back to have another look and realized that if the flood occured when we were in the place we would be trapped,we mutually decided to pull out and told the immobilier,we also wrote to the notaire explaining our reason,we are still waitin g for a reply.The immobilier told us that we would loose our deposit as we had broken the contract,but as we said we would not have entertained it in the first place knowing it was liable to flood.
So here we are back in england our french dream shattered.
In answer to your original question after me blathering on is yes it does flood.
Peter.

[Lee Le Clercq]

Thanks to you all, especially Peter for making our minds up. So sorry to hear of your misfortune - we hope everything works out ok for you both in the end.