Flooding is part of life in Murwillumbah. The town sits at the confluence of the Tweed River and the Rous River, surrounded by a catchment that rises steeply into the caldera ranges behind it. When big rain comes, the water has to go somewhere and historically some of it has gone through town. This isn't a secret and it's not a reason to avoid the area entirely, but it is something you need to understand properly before buying or renting here.
The flood history
Murwillumbah has flooded many times over its history. Major events occurred in 1954, 1974, 1989 and 2017, among others. The Tweed River is prone to fast-rising floods when the caldera catchment receives heavy rainfall, which can happen during east coast lows, tropical lows and La Niña periods. The 2022 event was exceptional in scale but it was not without precedent in terms of the general pattern.
The town has been built with this knowledge, which is why the CBD itself sits on slightly higher ground and many of the heritage commercial buildings on the main street have never flooded. The lower-lying residential areas near the river and floodplain are a different matter.
The February 2022 floods
February and March 2022 brought catastrophic flooding across the entire Northern Rivers region. Lismore was the hardest hit, but Murwillumbah experienced its worst flooding event in recent memory. The Tweed River rose rapidly and inundated substantial areas of the town. Parts of Murwillumbah that had never flooded before, or hadn't flooded in decades, went under. Hundreds of homes were damaged or destroyed across the Tweed Shire.
The event fundamentally changed how the community, council and state government think about flood risk in the area. It also changed how insurers assess properties and how lenders approach flood-affected or flood-risk properties. The 2022 floods are a before-and-after moment for the town and their effects are still being felt in 2026.
Disclosure requirement: Vendors in NSW are required to disclose if a property has flooded in certain circumstances. As a buyer, you can also check the flood history of a specific property address through Tweed Shire Council's online planning tools. Do this for any property you're seriously considering.
How flood overlays work
Tweed Shire Council's Local Environmental Plan (LEP) and Development Control Plan (DCP) include flood planning controls that apply to land within identified flood risk areas. These controls affect what you can build, how you must build it and in some cases whether development can occur at all.
The main categories you'll encounter on a Section 10.7 planning certificate (which your solicitor should obtain before exchange) are listed below. These affect different things depending on what you plan to do with the property.
| Overlay Type | What it means | Key implications |
|---|---|---|
| Flood Planning Area | Land within the 1 in 100 year flood extent plus a freeboard allowance | Controls on floor levels for new development, extensions and major renovations |
| High Flood Risk Precinct | Areas with high hazard classification, often near main channel or floodway | More restrictive development controls, some uses prohibited |
| Flood Storage Area | Land that plays a role in storing floodwater during events | Development that would reduce flood storage capacity is restricted |
Getting the planning certificate before exchange is not optional. It tells you exactly what overlays apply to a specific parcel. A solicitor experienced in the Tweed Valley will read it properly and flag anything significant.
What flood overlays mean for insurance and lending
This is where things get practical fast. Properties with a flood history or significant flood overlay can face materially higher building insurance premiums, or in some cases insurers declining to offer flood cover at all. Some affected properties saw premiums increase dramatically after 2022 and that has not fully corrected.
On the lending side, some banks and mortgage insurers apply additional scrutiny to flood-affected properties. This can mean higher deposit requirements, reduced LVR limits or requirements for specific building assessments. If you're buying with a mortgage, get pre-approval from a lender who has already assessed the property's flood classification, not just your income.
ICA Disaster Response Code: After 2022, the Insurance Council of Australia invoked its Catastrophe Code across the Northern Rivers. This brought additional support and scrutiny to the region. It also raised industry awareness of flood risk in the Tweed Valley specifically. That heightened awareness has persisted in underwriting decisions.
What's been done since 2022
The NSW Government and Tweed Shire Council have invested in a range of resilience and recovery works since 2022. Levee upgrades and assessment, improved flood gauge networks, better early warning systems and updated flood mapping using post-2022 data are all part of the ongoing response. The Resilient Lands Program and Resilient Homes Fund provided financial assistance for some affected residents to raise, retrofit or in some cases relocate homes.
The Tweed River floodplain management plan has been updated to reflect the 2022 event data. This means flood mapping in some areas has been revised and properties that were previously outside planning overlays may now be included. This is another reason to check the current planning certificate rather than relying on old research.
Flood-free areas do exist: Not all of Murwillumbah is flood-affected. The elevated residential areas above the town, the higher parts of South Murwillumbah and many properties on ridges and elevated land carry no flood overlay at all. Buyers who want to avoid flood risk entirely can find options. It typically means a smaller block or less flat land, but the properties are there.
What to do as a buyer
Check the flood overlay on any property before making an offer, not after. Use Tweed Shire Council's online planning portal to look up the address. It's free and takes five minutes. If the property carries any flood planning notation, get a full Section 10.7 certificate through your solicitor and have it properly explained before you commit.
Get an independent building inspection by someone who knows the Northern Rivers market and has experience assessing post-flood remediation. Ask specifically about any evidence of past inundation. Check the PEXA or Land Registry history and look at whether there has been any unusual transaction activity or price movement that might suggest flood history.
Talk to your intended insurer before exchange, not after settlement. Get a quote based on the specific address and ask directly about flood cover. If an insurer declines or prices flood cover out of reach, that is important information to have while you can still walk away.
None of this means don't buy in Murwillumbah. It means buy informed. People live here happily on flood-free land, or in well-elevated properties on flood-affected land, all the time. The ones who have problems are typically the ones who didn't look carefully enough before they committed.