Would you buy a property with Japanese Knot Weed?

[Spicylolly]

A house has come on the market that we love, a little on the high side budget wise but we could manage it.
Trouble is it does state there's knot weed on the property and a plan is in place, details available on request.

Would you not touch it with a barge pole or factor in costly removal and offer appropriately?

If it where close to the house I'd steer clear but it gives the impression it's in the grounds, which extend to 1.6 acres. Can't see it in any of the photos so assuming it's not a huge amount.

It would be a forever house for us so worrying about resell isn't a huge problem.

I have knotweed as do my neighbours (London terrace). You can't eradicate it but you can definitely keep it under control with a £9/year pesticide yourself (root stump killer).

The problem is the mortgage not insurance. I've never seen it mentioned as an exclusion in any insurance policy. It might be difficult to get a mortgage.

I doubt you'd get a mortgage on it

It isn't that hard to kill off,

Yes it is. That's why it has had to be covered by legislation (Anti-social Behaviour, Crime and Policing Act 2014) and its ersaication is usually carried out by specialist companies who have to dispose of it at specialist sites. It's a blummin' nightmare

OP The Royal Horticultural Society says this about buying a property with JK:

"If you are buying, the presence of Japanese knotweed will be stated in the responses to the TA6 form. This often results in your mortgage lender requiring assurances that it will be eradicated before agreeing the funds. A management plan by a professional eradication company, backed by a transferable guarantee, is usually sufficient. It is most common for this plan to be provided by the seller before the purchase is completed"

Sounds like a whole load of hassle to me.

It isn’t difficult to kill off really so it would depend if it was entirely on my property or coming in from somewhere else and if it was affecting the buildings. There are worse weeds - horsetail would put me off buying a house for example but I’d be prepared to deal with it JKW in the right house ( and at the right price)

I've treated quite a few houses/land and I've been involved in the excavation of JK.

The general minimum a mortgage company will request is a 5 year treatment plan by a PCA approved company. Most of the time they'll want this paid prior to completion or the money put into an escrow/bond account. Some mortgage lenders will want an additional guarantee and an insurance backed guarantee on the work.

Agree Barbra. Give me JKW instead of giant hogweed anyday.

I wouldn't want to buy a house within half a mile of one that had knotweed in the garden! Avoid!

You can get rid of it. Glyphosate will eventually kill it but you would probably need to apply it more than once.

The decision might be made for you if you need a mortgage.

According to this study it can't be eradicated
info here

My husband is a chartered surveyor. He says avoid it like the plague!

Glyphosate will eventually kill it but you would probably need to apply it more than once

You make it sound like you'd have to wander round with a watering can a couple of times. Mortgage companies will expect you to have a 3 year pre-paid plan with a specialist company before they will lend you the money to buy a house with Japanese knotweed

It's not day of the bloody triffids. If you don't need a mortgage and don't plan to sell I'd give it serious consideration.

RUN... nightmare that stuff!

Depends.

Is it a massive garden and it’s right at the end of the garden?

Have the neighbours also got it and are they dealing with it too?

It’s an increasing issue in London.

For the right house and where it’s the end of the garden impacted, I’d want the vendor to have pre paid a 5 year eradication program which is insurance backed. And a discount.

I read that about 20% of South-East Gardens have it now, so it's having to be treated as a routine house-care requirement by mortgage companies who can no longer afford to avoid it. I manage a house which had knotweed and in years 3 onwards there's been no sign.

It wouldn't put me off after having spent 3 years getting rid of bamboo. But it depends on whether you need a mortgage.

As to "I wouldn't want to buy a house within half a mile of one that had knotweed in the garden! Avoid!" - how would you know?

Having moved into a house with a small undeclared stand of Japanese Knotweed, I would take it on as long as the price is right, the stand is small, and far enough from the house.

I bought a stem injection kit and some glyphosate and have not had a problem reducing the stand to a few wispy shoots over three years.

A couple of mls of neat glyphosate injected into each stem in the autumn at the time of flowering has certainly had the desired effect.

Note the study posted by pp only talks about using small doses of glyphosate, and the two authors have an interest in a business that makes its income by controlling invasive plants - they have no incentive to make it sound easy...

Correct macshoto.

I did note the authors of that study have their own business in treating invasive plants. Stories like this help bump up the fear factor and the costs in treatment.

I have had JK. It took several applications of glyphosate to kill it.
It took a few years to get rid of it, and you need to be vigilant. Basically, you spray it, and if that hasn't killed it, you spray again a few weeks later.
You can get rootkill weedkiller in somwhere like wilko in trigger spray, and they usually sell it fairly cheaply in late summer.
You will need neighbours willing to kill theirs too.

I’m a gardener. I’ve successfully eradicated it from two separate gardens with repeated applications of glyphosate. It wouldn’t put me off a property provided it wasn’t also in the neighbour’s garden sitting there untreated ready to recolonise mine.

I have had more tedious battles with ground elder.

Horsetail would be a dealbreaker for me though.

Never ever. I wouldn't even buy a house on the same street.

On the plus side if you think it's a bit overpriced even without JK then the price is bound to plummet and you can then decide if you can face it at a good price.

I would, I might be cheeky and offer based on costly removal and then I'd do it myself. My mother's garden had knotweed in two locations where it had come in under the fence. There's been no sign of it for the last ten years. It took a few years to get rid of it and a few more years of keeping an eye on that area but it was well within the capabilities of a domestic gardener.

Yes, it is invasive but so are a lot of other plants. There's big money to be made in knotweed eradication and a vested interest in telling us how terrible it is.