QLD Property with overland flow

Hi, I am looking at buying my first ever IP in BCC. I am interested in a particular house but when I looked at the flood map it seems to be on an overland flow path.

See attached. The property that I am eyeing is marked in blue.

Should I be concerned? Would you buy this property if you were in my shoes?

 

We require more info. The blue blob on your map covers where the house is located compared to where the water flows, so we can't possibly tell whether water is likely to flow into your house or not. Often the house itself is high and dry and storm water flows downhill across the garden. But I cannot see from your tiny map. How high is the flood height above ground level and how high is the floor height?

 

I really don't know where I can get that info from

 

I cannot overstate how much I am imploring you to run. Its probably a bit attractive to you because of the price, but you will need to discount the return when you need to sell.

This looks like a newer suburb like Carindale or a Centenary suburb, so its a while off being a KDRB, but when it is, it will need the finished floor level at least 1.5m above the ground.

Practically, it won't mean there is water going through the house, but buyers are savvy to this and only buy on a big discount.

 

Thanks so much @heartsproperty

You are right - it will be a while before it's KDRB. Maybe 15+ years.

What really confused me was when I looked at the floodwise property report on the BCC flood map, there are no red flags. In fact it states:

"There are no Defined Flood Levels, Residential Flood Level, Overland Flow or other flood related flags associated with this property"

Could it be that the flood wise property report is not updated or perhaps its still being investigated and it will be updated going forward? I just found this discrepancy to be a bit weird.

 

This is a case of the left hand not talking to the right within BCC.

Town planning triggers for BCC assessable development is determined by a set of overlays called the flood planning overlays. The data for the overland flow overlay was generated many many years ago. This is visible as a blue overlay on the interactive mapping. Intersection of this overlay and a property triggers a hit on the floodwise mapping.

In 2017 BCC commissioned a big engineering company to do a citywide flood study, and this used LIDAR and some pretty comprehensive flood models to predict pockets of overland flow, this is what is show on the flood awareness mapping.

Having done and consulted on numerous project under the overland flow overlay, I can say comprehensively that the flood awareness mapping (the one you screenshot) is almost exactly what will happen in the real world. This is particularly interesting as there are many properties in BCC, that seem to be overland flow affected, in reality aren't, and a $5000 engineering study can restore hundreds of thousands of dollars of value to the site.

BCC are saying they will update the overland flow overlay, however they are taking their sweet time.

 

Thanks so much @heartsproperty. Very much appreciate your detailed response.

BCC really needs to get their act together. I almost got misled looking at the report until I read your comments. Sounds like the maps are more up to date and the reports are not updated

 

Agree.

It seems that just about ANY area that “might” possibly one day flood is included in the overland flow category.

We have lived in our Brisbane PPOR for 42 years through two floods, cyclones and numerous very heavy rain events. An area not too far away has suddenly been shown as an overland flow area, even though it has never had any issues.

 

If you generate a flood report, it will note the highest point on the land and the lowest point on the land, you just cross-reference that with the flood level.

 

What's everyones experience with insurance for a property with overland flow? I sought a quote for a 760sqm block in Morningside with overland flow out of curiosity and was quoted around $4500 per year by a large insurer. Is this about right?