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Original poster

Japanese knotweed at our old house

29 replies

Funky1985 · 24/09/2019 20:29

Hi wise mums,

I'm wondering if anyone else has been in this situation that we now find ourselves in? It is causing great stress so i'm hoping someone has some advice.

We sold our old house almost 3 years ago now and over the last few months we have been contacted by a solicitor representing the people who bought our house saying that Japanese Knotweed has been found in the garden. They are saying we sold them the house knowing that the knotweed is there but didn't tell them - this is not the case! Now they are saying they will drop the case if we pay them £25k to cover the work needed?!?!

Firstly we didn't know there was knotweed present. Secondly we can't afford a solicitor to represent us. And thirdly we don't have anywhere near that sort of money anyway!

Of course we have responded to them in the past to say we knew nothing about it and should they contact the people that we bought the house from but they just keep coming back saying we have to pay them or it will be taken to court.

Can anyone offer any sort of advice here please?

Thank you

OP posts:

MM29 · 24/09/2019 20:30

Buyer beware...

Did they get a full survey done? If not then they missed it...you missed it...it happens!!

Not your problem!

westcountrychicken · 24/09/2019 20:37

I would ask the solicitor you used for advise, they have to prove that you knew it was there, but if it's taken them three years to notice it then unless they have a receipt from "Bob's Knot Weed Removal" in your name, dated when you lived there then you are likely to be fine!

Squirreltamer · 24/09/2019 20:45

Unless they can prove you knew about it. And actively hide it. It’s just kindling for the fire.

So hopefully you didn’t leave your Knotweed modus operandi eradication plan and bunkers worth of glyphosate-based herbicides in the garage.

When did they spot it? 3 years is a long time! If you had an activate knotweed problem they’d notice it the 1st spring after they moved in.

Or if you’d be treating it on the sly but not well enough it could come back after a year or 2 but that’s impossible to prove.

I’d not worry sounds like they’re just chancing it.

HeadintheiClouds · 24/09/2019 20:49

Definitely chancers. It would have been obvious long before now if it had been there all along, and it won’t cost anything like 25k to sort out.
Refuse to engage.

Parky04 · 24/09/2019 20:52

3 years! Tell them to jog on!

WatchingFromTheWings · 24/09/2019 20:55

Even if you were liable, it doesn't cost that much to sort! We sold a house with a contract with a knotweed specialist to remove the weed from the next doors garden. We paid less than £2k!

Think they're trying to pull a fast one!

WombatChocolate · 24/09/2019 20:57

Chancers.
Reply saying you have no awareness of the knotweed at the property. Say it was never raised by a solicitor or surveyor following a survey at the time and that would have been the only acceptable time to raise the issue. Say you will not be paying any money. Make it short and factual.

I don’t think you will hear from them again.

EdWinchester · 24/09/2019 20:57

This is ludicrous.

Original poster

Funky1985 · 24/09/2019 21:00

Thanks for quick responses everyone!

@MM29 I don't know what they did?

@westcountrychicken and @Squirreltamer hahahahaha that tickled me! No we don't have any receipts or bunkers hidden away with any work showing because we didn't know it was there!

@Headintheiclouds they have sent an itemised bill for the £25k... it's pretty full on!

My worry is that they keep on with it and take us to court, then what would happen? How do we prove that we knew nothing about it?

OP posts:

GotToGoMyOwnWay · 24/09/2019 21:03

OP - try posting in legal also as someone may know the answer

Original poster

Funky1985 · 24/09/2019 21:03

@Parky04 it was around 2 years later when we heard from them initially, but still it is stupid!

OP posts:

lottiegarbanzo · 24/09/2019 21:04

You don't have to prove you didn't know. They have to prove that you did.

Tell them to take it up with their surveyor.

Original poster

Funky1985 · 24/09/2019 21:04

@GotToGoMyOwnWay ok will do thank you.

OP posts:

ANiceLuxury · 24/09/2019 21:08

Did they have a survey? Even if they did, there is a clause in them that they are not responsible for anything that gets missed

Namenic · 24/09/2019 21:08

It depends on how big the area is - but ours was about maybe 6-8k for maybe 8 sq m (we got it injected by chemical and it has not returned in 6yrs - hope it won’t).

It was detected by our house survey so we got about 1.5-2k reduction in price to compensate.

Loveislandaddict · 24/09/2019 21:12

Three years! Surely houses are ‘sold as seen’ and it’s the job of the surveyor to pick it up.

Wombats advice is good.

longtimelurkerhelen · 24/09/2019 21:30

Knotweed grows so fast they would have noticed it the first year. They are chancers.

It is up to them prove you knew about it, not up to you to prove you didn't as you can't prove a negative.

Unfortunately it does just pop up in places, if it only spread from plant to plant it would have been eradicated years ago. It only takes a tiny piece of the root to start a new plant, thats why they burn it.

Tell them to jog on.

Loveislandaddict · 24/09/2019 21:33

Anyone else googling knotweed to see what it looks like?

BobbinThreadbare123 · 24/09/2019 21:34

Caveat emptor! This is not on you, OP.

dramalamma · 24/09/2019 21:40

Total chancers - buyer beware. We had to sort out knotweed in a house we sold as their Gardener spotted it when he looked around before the sale. It cost us about £2k total to get sorted all official and certified - it would have to have been everywhere for it to cost anywhere near £25k. Let them take you to court if they are determined to - they have to prove you knew - it's a stress but they'll eventually get advise not to proceed.

UndomesticHousewife · 24/09/2019 22:48

Isn't there a legal form when selling a house about Japanese knotweed or am I thinking of something else?
I read somewhere that you have to check if you may have knotweed and state if you do or don't.
I bought long ago and this is more recent.

wowfudge · 25/09/2019 07:55

£25k?! Are they saying the JKW has caused damage they are having to put right? That's a very expensive eradication programme at that price. I wonder if they've not had any other quotes and when they said how expensive it is, the treatment company has suggested they can pursue you for the costs?

I can't see that they have a leg to stand on. They'd have to prove you knew and didn't declare it. Yes, in answer to the pp, it is a question on the property information form a seller has to complete.

CatkinToadflax · 25/09/2019 10:00

Slightly different situation but we'd lived in our former house for 6 months when we found a massive damp problem. The shower hadn't been fitted correctly and water was seeping slowly into the walls in all directions. We were absolutely certain that the vendors knew about it because they'd very conveniently redecorated immediately before we looked round. We didn't chase after them though - why would we and how could we prove anything?! Instead we took it up with the surveyors as the survey we paid for was a thorough enough one that they should have spotted it.

Three years for knotweed sounds daft. I would have thought the buyer's surveyors should have spotted it if indeed it was there at the time. Agree that the buyers don't have a leg to stand on.

hairyheadphones · 25/09/2019 10:05

When did they first notice the knotweed? It’s absurd they after 3 years they are sending you a bill!

missbattenburg · 25/09/2019 10:20

They have to prove you knew about it.

Presumably they cannot do that as you didn't know about to, so I would simply reply to say you believe the knotweed was not present when the house was sold.

In other words... jog on.

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