Selling a fire or flood damaged house

You can sell a house damaged by fire or flood, either once your insurer has paid for the repairs or as it is. Which is better depends on how bad the damage is, how far the insurance claim has got, and how long you can wait. Whichever you choose, talk to your insurer before you agree a sale, and be open with buyers about what happened.

This guide covers the first steps after a fire or flood, the insurance side, flood risk and Flood Re, what you must tell buyers in England and Wales, and your options for selling.

First steps after a fire or flood

The Association of British Insurers (ABI) says to think about your own safety first and contact your insurer straight away. After that:

• Record the damage. Photos and videos on your phone are a good record.
• Ask before throwing things away. Check with your insurer what to do with damaged furniture, carpets and belongings. The ABI says insurers won't expect you to keep anything that's a health hazard, and a small sample of carpet may be enough.
• Let the insurer organise the work. Insurers usually appoint loss adjusters, surveyors, drying firms and builders, and should give you a timetable.
• Keep the house secure and ask your insurer what cover applies while it's empty.

Repairs take time. The ABI says restoring a flooded home can take up to a year or longer, mostly because of drying out, and that after major flooding most people are back home within six to nine months.

Repair through insurance, or sell?

Most sellers end up in one of three positions:

Position	What it means for a sale
Claim settled, repairs finished and signed off	The house can usually be sold on the open market like any other, with the paperwork to show buyers
Claim open, repairs part done	Buyers will want to know what's left, who's paying and when; many will wait
No claim, or the claim was refused or under-insured	The house will usually sell as it is, to buyers who price in the repairs

If you want to sell before repairs are finished, ask your insurer how the claim would be settled if the house is sold. Policies differ, and the answer can make a big difference to what you walk away with. Get it in writing.

If you think your insurer has handled the claim unfairly, complain to them first. If they don't sort it out within eight weeks, or you're unhappy with their final response, you can take it to the Financial Ombudsman Service, which is free, within six months of that final response.

Flood risk, Flood Re and insurance

Buyers will want to know two things: whether the house is likely to flood again, and whether they can insure it.

Check the flood risk

• In England, GOV.UK's long term flood risk service shows an area's risk from rivers and the sea, surface water, reservoirs and, where data exists, groundwater. It doesn't show how likely an individual property is to flood.
• In Wales, Natural Resources Wales publishes its own flood risk map.

Your buyer's solicitor will usually run their own searches too, so it's better to know the answer first.

Flood Re

Flood Re is a reinsurance scheme set up to make flood cover more widely available and affordable for homes at high risk of flooding. It works behind the scenes through insurers, so you deal with your insurer, not Flood Re. It's due to run until 2039, when insurers are expected to price flood cover on actual risk.

According to Flood Re, a home is generally eligible if it:

• was built before 1 January 2009 (a home rebuilt later on the same site still counts)
• is in a domestic council tax band (A to H in England, A to I in Wales)
• is used as a private home, and is either a single home or a building with no more than three homes in it

Homes built from 2009 onwards aren't covered by Flood Re, which can make them harder to insure if they're at high risk.

Build Back Better. If your insurer takes part, Flood Re can reimburse up to £10,000 during a flood claim for work that makes the home more resilient to future floods, such as flood doors or water-resistant floors. Each insurer sets its own limit, so check. Resilience work like this is worth showing buyers.

For homes at high flood risk, the ABI suggests contacting insurers directly or using a broker, and mentions the British Insurance Brokers' Association's flood insurance directory, developed with Flood Re.

Fire damage: what buyers will look for

Even after the visible damage is cleaned up, buyers and their surveyors will ask about:

• The structure, including roof timbers, floors and any walls exposed to heat
• Wiring, gas and plumbing, which may need testing or replacing
• Smoke and water damage from firefighting, which can spread well beyond the room where the fire started
• Asbestos. The Health and Safety Executive says asbestos may be present in any building built or refurbished before 2000, so damaged materials in older homes need care

Paperwork showing what was repaired, by whom, and that it was checked and signed off will make buyers much more comfortable.

What you must tell buyers

Your solicitor will ask you to complete the Law Society's TA6 property information form. Since 30 March 2026, firms in the Law Society's Conveyancing Quality Scheme have had to use the 6th edition for new sales. It asks:

• whether the property has ever flooded, and what kind of flooding it was
• about insurance claims, and any difficulty getting insurance
• about warranties for work done, which may include repair work after a fire or flood

You must answer honestly. Under the Misrepresentation Act 1967, a buyer who relied on a false answer may be able to claim compensation, and in serious cases a court can set the sale aside. If you don't know something, "not known" is a proper answer. Our guide to the TA6 property information form explains the form in more detail.

Your options for selling

Route	Price	Speed	Good for
Repair, then sell through an estate agent	Usually the highest	Months, including repairs	Insured damage you can wait to have fixed
Auction	Can attract buyers who expect damage; fees and no certain price	Weeks once listed	Badly damaged homes, or where the claim fell through
Cash buying company	Usually below market value	Can complete in weeks	Sellers who can't face the repairs or can't wait

When an estate agent is likely to be better: if your insurer will pay for the repairs and you can wait for them, a repaired house sold on the open market will usually get you the most money.

When a quick sale can make sense: if the claim was refused or won't cover everything, you can't live in the house and are paying for somewhere else, or you simply can't face going back. You'll usually accept below market value, so it doesn't suit someone whose repairs are nearly finished.

We buy homes as they are, including fire and flood damaged homes, and make an offer within 24 hours. We pay your legal fees and you choose the completion date. Our offer is below market value, we explain how we worked it out, and there's no obligation to accept. Our cash buyer vs estate agent vs auction guide compares the routes in more detail.

A checklist for selling a damaged home

• Your insurer told, damage photographed, and a claim number noted
• Your insurer's answer, in writing, on how the claim is settled if you sell
• Repair records, sign-offs and any resilience work gathered
• Flood risk checked on GOV.UK (England) or with Natural Resources Wales
• Whether the home is eligible for Flood Re-backed insurance (built before 2009)
• The house secured and insured while empty (see costs of an empty house)
• TA6 answered honestly, including past flooding and claims

If the house needs other work as well, our guide to selling a house that needs work helps you weigh up repairing against selling as it is.