Auckland Council’s new tool to check for flood zones is good for the buyer, bad for the owner – Editorial

Auckland Council's online tool was introduced after the devastating Auckland Anniversary weekend floods in 2023.

THE FACTS

• Auckland Council has launched an online tool to identify flood-risk properties by address.
• The tool aims to warn prospective buyers of flood zones and coastal erosion risks.
• Some homeowners are concerned about the impact on property sales and insurance due to updated flood zones.

Auckland Council has launched an online tool that helps users search for flood-risk properties by address, including those at risk of coastal erosion or flooding from streams and rivers.

The tool shows areas predicted to be covered by floodwater during heavy rain – low-lying areas where water can become trapped, particularly where streams are likely to flood.

The improvements to the council’s Land Information Memorandums (Lims) are in response to the devastating 2023 floods, which not only wrecked countless properties but claimed lives.

The updated Lim reports and the tool can be used to warn prospective buyers that the property they are considering buying is in a flood zone, or at risk from coastal or cliff erosion.

“Check for flood risks before you buy or build”, the Auckland Council website warns.

Some of those risks are long-standing and obvious. The owners of houses built too close to the sea, too close to an eroding cliff or in a gully that is notorious for flooding can do little but resign themselves to the fact they are unlikely to find a willing buyer.

But other so-called flood zones are less obvious. Homeowners who request their latest Lim report can be shocked to discover that, without warning, the house they have lived in for 25 years is now in a flood zone. The blue flood-zone “lake” drawn around their property not only puts off buyers, but also causes some low-risk insurance companies to refuse to insure the home in the future.

The one-in-100-year risk means the council estimates there is a 1% chance of a major flood around the house in any one year. It’s a low risk, but enough to spook prospective buyers, who will shift their attention to another property.

Convincing the council to change its mind is a lengthy, complicated and expensive procedure with no guarantee of success. Homeowners are invariably stuck with the decision.

That inevitably leads to questions about the council’s role in this fraught issue. Angry homeowners accuse the council of allowing infill housing in suburban areas – such as nine townhouses filling a section that once held a family home and a big, grassy backyard – without the infrastructure to mitigate the risk of resulting flooding.

Auckland’s ageing stormwater systems can’t cope with water pouring off multiple properties with nowhere to go but down streets, gutters and into already full drains. It is excess water that can quickly turn a trickling stream into a raging torrent, or fill once-dry gullies with floodwater.

The council could help reduce those risks by ensuring stormwater drains are regularly cleared, tightening requirements for infill housing to have adequate holding tanks to slow the flow of stormwater, clearing the many streams and small rivers that run through the region, and upgrading the city’s stormwater capacity.

The council’s new Plan Change 120 creates capacity for two million more homes over the coming decades, concentrated around railway stations, busy bus routes and town centres.

Public consultation begins next week on changes to the city planning rules, including ones to better protect people and property from floods and other hazards while allowing for greater intensification. Unfortunately, that process is too late for property owners who already find their homes unexpectedly in flood zones because of updated Lim reports.