New to gardening - please tell me this isn't knotweed?!

[RonnieRonRon]

We recently moved into our new house and this bush in my neighbours garden has been taunting me ever since. Just worried it is Japanese Knotweed from the heart-shaped leaves. It is right up the side of the house and as high as the first floor windows. It has a spear-shape of buds/little white flowers at the top of the tallest branches. Please can anyone identify it?

Not knotweed, looks a bit like lilac from the leaves. Knotweed doesn't flower in this climate so anything with flowers on can't be it.

Should have said knotweed looks like bamboo in the stem, basically green but streaked with red.
Hope this helps set your mind at rest!

Sorry, just found out it does flower down south, I am very North and it doesn't flower here. Apologies, I'll go away now!

Nothing like knotweed - can't identify it from the photo, but it certainly isn't Japanese Knotweed. Looks more like a lilac or similar.

Thank you both! I know nothing about plants- glad I can stop looking at that one with suspicion!

Er - I'm not so sure. The reflection from the window makes it very difficult to tell. I cannot see the flowers - if I could I'd be able tell if it's JK or not. It's around railway lines here in the NW and is flowering now.

wowfudge we are SE, the flowers look like they've pretty much dried up but here's a pic through open window. Can't get a closer pic unfortunately because of the layout of the gardens.

Hmmm I'm not sure either. Did you get a survey when you bought the house? The surveyor should have pointed it out if it is knotweed.

We had a home buyers report - results were quite vague though and may not have checked that neighbour's front garden (the downstairs maisonette owns the garden between garden-with-suspect-bush and our front garden). The branches are all brown though, no red or green that I can see.

I can't be certain - the flowers look as though they are spikes from your photo, knotweed flowers aren't like that and the overall shape looks wrong for JK.

I'm even more sure it's not after the second picture, there's a stem in the middle of the picture at the bottom where the leaves are in pairs across the stem, knotweed has single leaves alternating on each side of the stem.

Phew, thank you everyone!

Looks like lilac to me too.