Buying house with Knotweed in adjacent woodland

Taj121 · 13 February 2018 at 4:31PM

Hi,

Would be grateful for any advice. We are considering putting an offer a house that has japanese knotweed growing in the woodlands behind the property. The property grounds itself does not have any of the weed and its only situated in the woodlands but its close to the property line. The woodlands is owned by a private college and is being treated by Eco Control Solutions since 2016. There's about 20% of the weed remaining and their last treatment is due next year and they say it will be eradicated by Nov 2018. They have a 10 year warranty in place and will monitor the area and £100,000 property damage cover. In this situation would you still be happy to place an offer on the house? I'm not familiar with japanese kotweed, never heard it before until the estate agent mentioned it, so any advice would be helpful.

Thanks,

Taj

JoJo1978 · 13 February 2018 at 4:40PM

It's a less a case of whether as a buyer you are happy placing an offer, but more about whether a lender's valuation survey will pick up on the issue and be happy with the plan and cover that the neighbouring property has in place.

If you don't know anything about knotweed, how do you know the property you want to offer on doesn't have it though? I'm not trying to be smart, I wouldn't know it if I saw it either but I do know that at certain times of the year it's less obvious...I'd be wary of just going by what the EA says too.

Margot123 · 13 February 2018 at 5:17PM

Are there any other properties you like that don't have Japanese Knotweed?

If I were you, I wouldn't gamble on something you know is in someone else's hands. What if the college goes bust? What if they forget to revisit and retreat?

As has already been said. How do you know it isn't in that property already? It can stay dormant underground for years and then pop up.

Grenage · 13 February 2018 at 6:13PM

That the estate agent is openly stating the proximity of Japanese Knotweed is good; it means that many will be put off, and you can possibly get a better purchase price.

It depends how bothered you are about the knotweed; I wouldn't be overly concerned, but others would run a mile.

glasgowdan · 13 February 2018 at 6:16PM

I would buy it, but use the JKW as a tool to get a good price. It's really not hard to keep it under control yourself, you don't need specialists with their guarantees and expensive treatments.

Taj121 · 13 February 2018 at 6:31PM

Thank you for all the advice, it's greatly appreciated. I would carry out a full survey and make sure there is no JKW in the actual property grounds. The woodlands is owned by Eton College so I doubt they will go bust.
I've been sent the full documents from Eco Control Solutions and they have carried out their own inspection of the woodland and adjacent properties and have only found the knotweed in the woods, so it does give me reassurance that their inspection would have been thorough.
We had a chat with the next door neighbours and they were surprised the knotweed was even mentioned by the EA as they said it hasn't ever been a problem and they have lived there for over 40 yrs.

ProDave · 13 February 2018 at 8:34PM

I would be more concerned of it spread from the woodland into a neighbours garden and they did nothing about it (whether through ignorance or any other reason) which could let it get very much closer to your house.

Kittenonthekeys · 13 February 2018 at 10:04PM

The conveyancing Property Information form now includes questions relating to Japanese Knotweed, whereas it didn't used to until fairly recently. This highlights what a serious problem it has become over the past few years. As you know, it's notoriously difficult to remove completely and could affect not only your property (if it hadn't been entirely eradicated by the college) but also a future sale. My niece had JK creep into her garden from some wasteland at the back and she's been through a really stressful time as it keeps coming back, despite the landowner's assurances that it's been dealt with.
Personally I would walk away and find somewhere else, especially as you're not the one in control of the process. It's really not worth the headache.

elsien · 13 February 2018 at 10:08PM

Just so as you know with regards to a survey of the property you're looking at knotweed won't be showing above ground at the moment, it's too early in the year.
But if it's a self contained patch which is being properly treated it wouldn't neccessarily put me off. Having said that, eradicating the remaining 20% in one go seems a little optimistic but if there's a warranty and they're doing the job properly 10 years should certainly do the trick.

Davesnave · 14 February 2018 at 6:56AM

Kittenonthekeys wrote: »

My niece had JK creep into her garden from some wasteland at the back and she's been through a really stressful time as it keeps coming back, despite the landowner's assurances that it's been dealt with.
Personally I would walk away and find somewhere else, especially as you're not the one in control of the process. It's really not worth the headache.

It doesn't seem that the situation you're describing is exactly the same as the OP's.

On the one hand there's a wealthy college involved, with an insurance-backed eradication scheme, and on the other there's a person with some waste land and some dodgy promises.

Every case deserves to be treated on its merits.

Kittenonthekeys · 14 February 2018 at 10:32AM

Davesnave wrote: »

It doesn't seem that the situation you're describing is exactly the same as the OP's.

On the one hand there's a wealthy college involved, with an insurance-backed eradication scheme, and on the other there's a person with some waste land and some dodgy promises.

Every case deserves to be treated on its merits.

Maybe not an identical situation, but it's all down to whether any individual feels it's worth taking a punt with hundreds of thousands of £s.
Personally, I would not.

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Buying house with Knotweed in adjacent woodland

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