Properties with river frontage have been making premium prices in recent years and many's the estate agent who has bent over backwards to capture a riverside ambience for marketing purposes. After this week's rainstorms and ferocious flooding that left many new estates under water, these locations may not be such a good marketing ploy in future. With insurance companies now facing claims for millions of pounds from sodden home owners, the industry may not be prepared to offer cover on homes in some of these low-lying locations, except at an extra premium. Developers will also be taking stock of their landbanks, particularly those in areas like Leixlip, Maynooth, Dunboyne, Clonee and Arklow which were among the worst hit.

Perhaps the standard specification in some of these locations should now include sandbags along with the pvc windows and rear patios?