Japanese knotweed identified on survey

[OttilieKnackered]

Hello all.

As the title says really. Haven’t had the full survey back yet but EA has phoned to get ahead of it and vendors have already said they will pay full cost of removal.

Would you still go ahead? If so is there anything I need to get in writing?

That's not correct @Diyextension. Even with treatment there's no time limit afterwards that you can stop declaring it. This may change in the future but cannot be relied upon.
My house has/had two sprigs of knotweed discovered before I bought it and is under treatment with a ten year guarantee, I still would have to declare it whether I sold it in five or 20 years.
There are more invasive plants out there that don't have the hysteria surrounding them, hopefully science and common sense will eventually prevale.

Yes, I think you’d need to declare but if it’s been eradicated by a professional outfit (/daylight robbers😆!) and not been seen for years most will overlook. If there’s a massive patch next door that keeps spreading to yours though that’s a bigger problem..

Bamboo is a far bigger risk than jkw- just another example of the daily Mail creating hysteria over very little!!

I would advise you run fast in the opposite direction. We have just paid 13k for eradication of Japanaese knotweed in our garden.
The surveyors missed it when we purchased the house, if it had been noticed then we wouldn't have got the mortgage approved.
We have a 10 year guarantee, the company will come out a couple of times a year to check the area.
When we sell we have been told we MUST tick YES to the Japanese knotweed question.
The worry is if potential buyers will be able to get their mortgage approved or if we would need to find a cash buyer.
If we had known about the knotweed there's no way we would have purchased the house.

Nope if it’s gone ,why would you say “ oh there used to be some x amount of years ago ,but we got rid of it and not seen any more for x amount of years “

we ve lived it this house for 4 years now and for all I know the (large) garden could have been overrun with it at some point ? But there no sign of it so no problem.

you just tick no on the form and if the new buyers survey dosnt pick anything up then it’s all good .

Well that's good the sellers are paying. It takes 3 years to treat over the plan - they come 2x or more a year to spray it. Then issue a certificate with 10 year guarantee.
So yes you declare it but you have the guarantee to pass on. That should satisfy any surveyor/mortgage.

@Diyextension If you don't know then you tick the don't know box!
We were able to sue the previous owner of our house for the cost of removal because she ticked no.
She knew full well it was there but any solicitor will always advise you to tick don't know

It often comes back. So no, I'd pass on that house.

That's interesting to know re the diesel. Would diesel also work on bamboo in places it isn't wanted?

Most people won’t even know what jkn even is never mind what it looks like , the state of some peoples gardens I doubt they even know what’s in them 😀.

our old house ( victorian ) had a capped off well between our house and next door , I never told to new owners it was there. The only way I found it was building a new garden wall so I’m not sure it will bother them.

like a previous poster has said …… just tick don’t know to it if you don’t want to tick no.

We have a large run of bamboo in our garden , i keep it under control now with a concrete foundation under the new fence but the previous owners let it run into next doors garden. The old chap next door said it pushed his block paving up , he said he used to cut the stems and pour salt down the tubes he said that does the trick.

I’m sorry to say this is probably a bad idea. Who knows where the market will be if/when you come to sell it. I wouldn’t risk it, that probably means others wouldn’t either, I recommend you hold out for a more straight forward purchase. JKW is notoriously difficult to manage, if it could affect your mortgage then you know it’s serious. Sorry OP.

We had it, paid for a full removal plan over 8 years and have a warranty and are selling, it's like the other poster said a massive fuss over nothing and a money making scam, equally bamboo may also be heading on the list.. so anyone planting that I'd stay away!

I'd buy again with it as I'm aware it's 100% treatable.

Bamboo is an absolute nightmare. It spreads everywhere and the roots spread horizontally, so it’s so hard to uproot.

I really appreciate everyone that has contributed so far with their experiences. It’s all useful stuff.

My mortgage company has come back with a valuation £10k under our offer (of 290), with another valuation 5k under if works are carried out (presumably the knotweed management).

Would this change or strengthen anyone’s views/reactions?

OttilieKnackered,
It wouldn't put me off at all. The problem with knotweed is the hysteria, but as you’ve said, RICS have finally eased the guidelines on it.

It’s not hard at all to treat.

There are far worse things out there like buddleia, which is an absolute nightmare.

I had the possibility of JK come up when we bought at the end of last year, in-fact there wasn’t any, we had a full specialist JK survey (which the sellers paid for).
I did a fair amount of research at the time and had decided that we would still buy the house even if it had been found. It is not as bad a problem as some make out and mortgage companies are more relaxed about it now.
I’m certainly glad we didn’t find any but it wouldn’t put me off if a removal plant was in place.
When I moved in I spent a week removing bamboo the was planted against a boundary wall with my neighbours house, it was only a small clump but the roots were massive and very deep, I’ll certainly never plant bamboo in my garden as I’ve got too many close neighbours.

It's possible that the current owners can get indemnity insurance against recurrence

Thanks once again all.

I’m still wavering a bit in what to do so welcome any and all views and experiences.

A complicating factor is just the lack of other options out there.

Sigh.

Sorry if I’ve missed it but how far from the house is the knotweed?

unless its your perfect never find another in a million years, I'd pull out. If it was me I'd feel i was just waiting for the shoe to drop.

Not sure, but I think, reading between the lines, the house is in Hounslow and the JKW is in Osaka. 🤷‍♂️

Haha. I’ve not had the report yet so not sure. Garden is a small terraced garden, about 26 feet so nowhere is very far from the house.

@godmum56 yeah, I think that’s how I feel. It’s such a shame.

Run. It will still catch up with you!

Depends if the sellers put it on a management plan. My garden had it at the end, it's been treated and hasn't come back in 10years, when I brought it there was no issue with the mortgage and they knew about it. It's got to stay on a management plan, but I guess some people would stop that, I just think better safe than sorry. There's so much hysteria surrounding it.