Would you buy a house if you knew it might flood?

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The north of England has had a terrible few weeks for flooding. A couple of years ago, it hit badly in the south and my sister's home was uninhabitable. The village that she lives in was so badly flooded that one joker put up a sign under the village sign saying "Twinned with Atlantis". She took a year off work and went to live on her canal boat whilst the work was done and the house looks great again. They took some extra precautions in case it happens again - getting rid of the wooden flooring and putting down a stone floor that should survive better. Across the road from her is a house that has been up for sale for 9 months now. Down the road a few more are failing to sell. Nobody wants to buy in an area that has flooded. You can't really blame buyers for feeling that way. Meanwhile, my parents live in Salisbury, a beautiful old historic city with a 13th century cathedral. Ironically the cathedral was built on water meadows but has survived remarkably well considering although the land around it sometimes floods. My parents live opposite a large water meadows which regularly floods when the river is high. Land owners have submitted plans to build on those water meadows and the city has a very active 'Save the Water Meadows' campaign. Not only are they an area of beauty, they act as the 'overflow' for the city. When it rains, the water meadows do what they are supposed to do - they flood. If you build on them, it's inevitable that the new houses will flood. More annoyingly for those who live nearby, the flooding will spread because the new properties will reduce the land available to soak up the water so the flood area will be much enlarged. My parents should be fine - their place is a good few meters above the water meadows - but the whole area will be really badly impacted. My sister's house is well over a hundred years old. It was built at a time when it wouldn't have flooded. Developments in more recent years have caused the problems that led to her flooding. Why then would any city council consider allowing new building that's almost guaranteed to create problems? And why would anybody buy a house in a water meadow? If you are interested to know more about the campaign, you can see the Save the Meadows facebook page.