Rot

One of the largest parts of desirable England is under water. What does that do to house prices?

Another problem is the rot. Wet rot is nasty but dry rot is the black death. Dry rot is caused by a very narrow band of humidity maintained at a fairly narrow band of temperature in buildings that have been soaked. It is prevalent in the central and western parts of England.

The soaking can be due to poor maintenance (usual cause) or flooding. The spores of dry rot are floating about in the air all the time, looking for just that balance between damp and warmth in which to thrive. It grows in wood, but extends itself through mortar, under plaster, across brickwork, and causes structural collapse . It is high on the surveyor's list for any building in the central and western English regions.

It is going to have a field day. To deal with it requires specialised firms who cost the earth and rip out anything within 3 metres, in any direction, of rot evidence - floor boards, plaster, pannelling, windowframes, sashes, ornate plasterwork, structural features....and if there is to be a guarantee against recurrence, then the treatments of what is left require vacating the building for days.

So even when the ruined buildings are dryed out, who would touch them with a bargepole?

Unless great care is taken it gets into the raspberry canes as well.