House purchased - knotweed

[reallynotamused]

3 months ago we purchased a house, it was meant to be a move up from our tiny flat and get more space and a garden for dd to play in. Then a month ago a contractor pointed that we had japanese knotweed in our garden. Up until then I had never heard of the stuff - but I do now! The problem is it is right next to our house!!!

We have started attempts to kill it off ourselves but are now considering calling in the professionals to get rid. To us it seems fairly obvious the vendors knew it was there and tried to conceal it (looked like it had been treated and burned before and a mound of earth put over it). The surveyor also failed to pick up on it as survey was done in late November.

Do we have a case to pursue? Or would it be a long costly futile exercise? Everything I have read pretty much says No and that it is a case of buyer beware, but because it looks like the previous owners had deliberately tried to hide it we are seriously miffed.

Are you planning to stay in your new house a while? Because if you are then you should manage to get rid of it & there would be no problems when you came to sell. Just make sure you get a company that will deal with it effectively.

Did the solictor ask any specific questions about the garden on the questionnaire? Unless the vendors have lied I doubt you can get any redress and surveyors, especially if primarily for mortgage purposes, would n't look for it.

You need to get it sorted by professionals and I'm afraid I think you have a duty to inform the council as it spreads like nothing on earth. I'm pretty confident that you should have a case if they deliberately concealed it and you can prove that but it would be tricky. Really bad luck but get the professionals in sharpish before it gets anywhere near your foundations.

Best of luck with it.

The solicitor just used the standard questionnaire so there were no specific questions about knotweed or the garden. I have heard it us very difficult to prove the vendors knew about it as they were not asked the question in the first place.
We were planning to stay 5 to 10 years so I hope we can get it out by then. We are going to have to get the professionals in to help dig it out now, we got 1 metre down and there is loads of it! Can't do anymore, it's taking over our lives and we don't have enough hours in the day to deal with it.
According to the environment agency it is not a notifiable weed, but it is controlled waste. There seems to be a lot of contradictory information out there which says whether or not knotweed sites should be declared?