We’re screwed aren’t we?

[user1483387861]

I’m so upset. I’ve been wanting to move for a while. The house is too small for us now we have two kids. We have one of each and the third bedroom is a box room, so we need more space and want to get into a better catchment area for secondary schools. The house went on the market on Tuesday and the for sale board went up the day after. We were so excited. Then our next door neighbours came around and suggested we might want to cut back the Japanese knotweed growing in the garden. Arggghhhhh...

We had no idea, we don’t have a clue about gardening, we just cut back on the growth now and then as well as mow the lawn. I’m so upset and worried that we’re going to be trapped here.

It’s at the farthest point from the house as it can be and appears to be coming through or over a wall adjoining the bottom of another garden. (The houses are built on a big hill, so the top of our garden is the bottom of another’s).

I’ve rang our estate agents who advised getting a professional company on to identify it and survey the full scale of the problem. This we’re going to do. My OH thinks it might be in a few gardens on this stretch of the road, so how on earth do we treat it?! It’s all very well us treating our patch but it will just grow back if other people don’t treat theirs which they are under no obligation to do!! This is a nightmare.

I’ve had a look at the survey we had done before we bought the house and there is no mention of it. I’ve also checked the TA6 3rd edition form that the seller filled in and there is no mention of knotweed in it but when i’ve researched the form on the internet, it should have been included. Our form only goes up to 7.4 where the knotweed question is 7.8. I’ve asked the solicitors to review the file but it probably won’t go anywhere.

Anyone any experience of this?

There's a bond you can pay. Like an insurance. You pay for guaranteed treatment.

Much better finding it now than it coming up in the survey! You can get everything in place to sort it, you will be fine!

Best to find out now, rather than later. I think all the neighbours will have to get together, get experts in and share the cost of getting the knotweed totally eradicated

It may not have been an issue when you bought. Get an expert to start a treatment plan. You cannot just cut it without spreading it so may have inadvertently made the problem worse.

Yes, we’re definitely going to get the experts in. I’m dreading to think of how much it might cost though. I’m wishing it was contained in just our garden, the neighbours could refuse to get their patches treated and then we’re stuck 😢

You can force them to treat, actually- the law changed fairly recently. But you don't really want to be getting into that!

They have too treat it. If they refuse, you can make them.

www.gov.uk/guidance/prevent-japanese-knotweed-from-spreading

There's no law against having it on your property, but there is against allowing it to spread. If you can see that it has grown from a neighbours property, then they can be prosecuted and made to pay for your removal.

OP, ensure that whichever company you get to treat this, will give you an insurance backed guarantee not just a company guarantee.
A friend sold her property recently which had a history of knotweed some years ago.
It had been successfully treated but the sale was held up for a while as the mortgage company, who were lending to her buyer, insisted on the insurance backed guarantee.
The firm that had done the treatment only offered their own guarantee but this wasn't acceptable.
She did eventually manage to get one from another company but not without a fair bit of hassle and a few £1000.

The TA forms are updated periodically by the Law Society. Knotweed used to be a rare problem so wasn't on the form.

JKW isn't the absolute disaster it once was for house selling, because it is very prevalent in the SE now.

Get in a professional company who do a treatment plan with an insurance backed guarantee (this is important because the guarantee is still useful even if the company goes bust). Get onto the neighbors as well. A good company can advice.

YY to all the advice above, start a treatment plan etc, but beware that it takes at least 2 growing seasons to get rid of JKW, so you won’t be rid of it any time soon.

I’ve sent some pictures to a company who have confirmed that they can see the knotweed, so it’s definitely that 😢 I’ve paid £360 for a survey and management plan which is booked in for next Thursday. The company confirmed that their treatment plans are insurance backed for 10 years. If it’s just in our garden, they can provide the guarantee if we pay for all of the treatment up front, so it won’t delay us selling the house by too long. The complication is whether it’s on neighbouring properties.

Just thought I would update on this. We’re still in the middle of what is an absolute nightmare. The survey has been completed with it confirming that the knotweed is affecting 5 properties in total. With four of the properties it is growing along the boundary wall and is more than 7 metres from the house. Next door but one, it is in their garden itself. This house was sold subject to contract but the sale fell through this week for unrelated reasons. The treatment will cost £6k and the company can issue a 10 year insurance backed guarantee.

Three of the neighbours have said they won’t contribute. I have been ringing next door but one’s estate agent repeatedly in order to get them to contribute. They have said they will but i’m not seeing any progress from them at all. The estate agents have passed them my number but they’ve not rang despite me chasing them. I’m getting so frustrated with it all.

On top of that, we had a decent offer on our house that has been withdrawn because of the knotweed issue. I feel like i’m banging my head against a brick wall and we’re trapped because of a bloody weed that is too far from the house to endanger it at all.😡😩😭

I believe that there is a duty to notify and treat it. Though the company should know about that. I'm surprised the other houses are allowed to ignore it.

What a nightmare!!! Have you spoken to the council? Argh!

Can you get legal advice?