Japanese Knotweed - would you buy a house with this problem?

[vez123]

Have seen a lovely house within in our budget in perfect location near good school, quiet road, great size. But one major problem: Japanese Knotweed! The vendor is aware and is putting a legally binding (for them) treatment plan in place. I am aware that this issue could have an impact on home insurance and getting a mortgage. Are we crazy to even consider the place? So far we have not put forward an offer, just researching the issue. Has anyone got any experience with this?

Cheers

[libelulle]

just by way of info, ours definitely doesn't grow 10cm a day and is definitely knotweed, so I suspect that growth rate is in ideal conditions!

[Wilding]

I also have a flat with a garden backing onto the Herne Hill train line, which is completely infested with the stuff. I have to say though, it hasn't really spread into our garden - not sure if we've just been lucky? It didn't affect our mortgage or come up in the survey either (bought it about 4 years ago).

[LaCerbiatta]

Thanks cantspel. Not sure what to do.... its very annoying that we can't use the garden and the only option is to treat it properly - a lot of effort even if not money for a house that we don't own and may not be in long term...

Also, if we treat it chemically will the Apple trees in the garden be affected? Ie, can we still eat them?

Thanks again :)

[BellaOfTheBalls]

Run. Run like the wind. No amount of discount off the house will make any difference. It's very expensive and very very time consuming to sort. It can come up through the foundations of your house.

[Blu]

Wilding - http://mayallroad.co.uk/?p=234 LOOK HERE!.

[purplepansy]

I lived in a rented house with JK. It is actually pretty easy to kill, although it is time consuming. What you need to do is get some very strong glyphosate - I bought 'brush killer' strength, and used it neat, a strong stick and a sharp pair of secateurs. Cut each stem about 15cm above the ground, poke the stick down it a few times to break the cross pieces in the stem , then pour about 20mls of neat glyphosate down the stem. Works a treat. It takes ages to treat each stem though!!

[Zomax]

We completed on a house in December after 4 months of fighting because the surveyor spotted knotweed. It is a house which will be our forever home which needed total refurbishment and was probably the only house this size in London we could afford so we fought with our lenders (HSBC) and our insurers and we eventually bought it.

The insurers were th biggest problem as there was evidence of subsidence which had been repaired and wasn't knotweed related but we got the current insurers to take us on.

I guess the knotweed came from fly tipping as our garden isn't fenced on one side. It has been a pain. The specialists said it was dying after the first treatment but it has appeared elsewhere since then and been treated again. It is definitely responding to he treatment but we have been told to keep our daughter and pets away from it to stop spreading and we can't plant anything or clear our garden. Thankfully we are unlikely to be able to afford to do the garden for a while but it does limit us a bit.

Would I buy the house again? In an instant. It is only a plant, after all and in the end we have a lovely forever house.

By the way I hate the hype about it. It has been around for years but has only just been noticed by lenders after DM type scaremongering :-/

[Knotweedadvisor]

Ps I agree with Zomax that there is too much scaremongering based on very little experience or practical knowledge.

[loubielou31]

I think if I could get a discount, a mortgage and insurance then I would still buy it(I'm not a horticulturalist). If this is your dream home and you're going to stay there forever then resale won't be a problem.
Your garden will be unusable for years, (well no landscaping or digging of any sort) but there are obviously treatments that work they just require a very diligent approach.
So don't dismiss the house but do a bit more research about the size of the problem.

[MrsJREwing]

old thread.

[loubielou31]

Oh yes, well spotted. I wonder if they did buy the house.

[MrsJREwing]

Knotweedadvisor seems to have had a motive to reserect!

pm see if they bought?

[Petalpink]

I wouldn't buy.

[buttercrumble]

No way...

[rubydoobydoo]

I know it's an old thread, but it brought back a load of bad memories, and if anyone else were to ask I'd advise them tho run away as fast as humanely possible, and even so the knotweed would probably grow faster!

I was plagued by the stuff in rented accomodation a few years ago in Birmingham, and it was like a constant battle - not helped by the fact that I didn't know what it was at first and made it worse by trying to pull the stuff up!
And as soon as I thought I was getting somewhere, it would keep invading from next door (a rarely used back yard to a shop).

I felt like a superhero trying to defeat an all powerful baddie!

I DID however find out during my research into how best to thwart the stuff that it's EDIBLE - and found a recipe for a spiced apple and knotweed pie, which I lovingly baked and took great delight in eating! (It's actually quite nice, like a tangier version of rhubarb...)