Japanese knotweed

[Becksterboo]

Hi there, we recently viewed the property of our dreams, beautiful and in the right location and we put in an offer. It was then the estate agent told us that on the boundary of the back garden (which backs onto a football field) has Japanese knotweed. We didn't know very much about this but after a bit of research we found out that this is quite a dangerous weed as it can weaken the structure of a house and can be a nightmare to get rid of. The vendors are planning to get it treated this summer, after reading up trying to get rid of it takes a lot of hard work. So we're at the stage whether we give up on the property or still stick with it.

Does anyone else have experience of Japanese knotweed, did you manage to get rid of it or at least control it?

Thank you.

How far from the house is it? If it's right down the bottom of a large garden then it won't be much of a problem, but if it's anywhere near the house it can cause problems and raise issues with insurance. I have it in my garden and it causes next to no problems - we treat any regrowth that pops up once a year (and there's very little that does) and it's a lot less hassle to deal with than ivy or bindweed.

Apparently it's on the boundary of the property which backs onto a football field, I'm not sure precisely where the knotweed but the garden is around 17 metres long, however it looks like the knotweed could be on the closest side of the house though (the football field fence where we understand the knotweed is is to the right of property and looks to be around 5 metres from the edge of the house). According to mortgage companies we couldn't even get a mortgage on a property if it has japanese knotweed within 7 metres of a property. My other half has also found that insurance premiums would be higher too.

As much as I love the house we may need to let it go :(

my reaction was also to see what your mortgage provider says, if you need a mortgage - they will probably run a mile.

the stuff needs a 3 year treatment programme to be fully eradicated, and is very destructive and invasive. The first spray should have already been done this year.

it won't have affected the house yet but it grows like some alien monster, much faster and stronger than ivy or bindweed. One tiny dropped bit will grow into a plant.

It's in the derelict canal near me and I've been nagging the canal trust, which is how I know this. Your vendors need to light a rocket under the owners of the field.

I agree, it's very hard and expensive to eradicate completely. It can destroy the foundations of a house if left unchecked. Turned down a very nice house because of it!

We put in an offer on a house with Japanese Knotweed in the garden. We didn't have a mortgage so that wasn't a problem (although we were told that some mortgage companies will lend if there is a long-term action plan in place.)

We got a quote on dealing with it, and the company were confident it could be eradicated with a proper plan and neighbour cooperation. (If neighbours don't eradicate and it's on their side too, it just comes back.) Can't remember the price, but the major issue for us was that you can apparently only treat live and unbroken plants, so once the first treatment was done, the garden would be effectively out of bounds for kids for a year, in case they broke stems and meant plants couldn't be treated.

A friend of mine got a quote from a different company who recommended a technique involving digging out large amounts of earth instead, so there seem to be different ways of dealing with it.

We did put in an offer, but it was a reduced offer on the grounds of the extra costs involved. (Didn't get the house in the end - it went out of our price range, which is some indication that this isn't necessarily a barrier to selling.)

We were told by the estate agent that any reputable agent would declare the knotweed issue to future prospective buyers, which would be likely to impact on reselling the house.

We had it in our garden.

It took 3 years to be rid of it, and we still check regularly to see if it's come back. You've got to be meticulous about it - we burnt all the shoots we found.

It hasn't been back for 7 years now.

Thank you. We think we will leave the property well alone, it sounds like a nightmare to be honest. We have little ones too and I understand any treatment could be dangerous for them.

I do feel for the vendors, they need to sort it or they'll never sell!

We were assured by the specialist company that the treatment wasn't at all dangerous to children (we have a 3yo). It was just that children should be kept out of the treatment area in case they damaged the shoots and made treatment impossible for a year. But that doesn't make it much less of a nightmare, admittedly!