Can't get a mortgage on a house with Jaapanese Knotweed

zaksmum

What is so bad about Japanese Knotweed?

We looked at a house recently with a small public green space directly over the road. This had a sign saying WARNING!! Japanese Knotweed. I didn't think anything of it at the time as we were not interested in the house after viewing, but it looks like it may have been a problem to have it so close to the house.

Richard_Webster

There is a school field across the road form me and round the other side of the field there is knotweed by the road. If lived in the houses opposite I would be demanding the Council as education authority did something about it - it's been there some yaers but nothing seems to have been done.

GDB2222

KateLiana27 wrote: »

The concern I would have is that while you may be able to find someone to give you a mortgage, you will likely have serious problems selling your house on. Because most buyers will need a mortgage and will go through the same process you have. Even ones that don't may well be spooked by the reputation of knotweed. Personally I would walk away. But if you do want to go ahead, then yes, you are absolutely in a strong bargaining position and I'd expect a significant discount for it.

If it's really unmortgageable, the only people able to buy it are cash buyers. Not so many of them about, so the discount you need is probably around the 25% mark. The vendors probably won't sell at that figure, but you need that sort of discount to protect yourself when you want to sell. You could reasonably ask the valuer what he thinks, as you've paid for the survey. You may also find that it is mortgageable at the much lower price.

westv

zaksmum wrote: »

What is so bad about Japanese Knotweed?

Quote from Google

"Mortgage lenders claim Japanese knotweed, which is capable of pushing through concrete, poses a risk to the structure and fabric of the building, and so reduces the value of a property."

RobertoMoir

zaksmum wrote: »

What is so bad about Japanese Knotweed?.

That rather depends on your attitude to large bills to do any work to your garden, as your garden waste, including soil, would need to be treated as contaminated waste rather than just normal garden waste.

It can certainly push up through building structure foundations. I seem to recall reading about it pushing through the living room floor of a house.

zappahey

katieMo wrote: »

I can't believe mortgage companies are not preparing policies for this.

They have prepared a policy. The policy is that they won't lend on such properties.

ruggedtoast

What the hell? I've never in my life heard of Japanese knotweed, even when I lived in Japan. It sounds like some kind of alien triffid species or something.

poppysarah

Sambucus_Nigra wrote: »

Why is JK their sole responsibility? It's not NR's fault that someone during the Victorian era brought back a thug of a plant which people then dumped on spare ground which just happened to include railways.

I think the problem is it can get there on it's own. It's seeds are propelled explosively!

GDB2222

ruggedtoast wrote: »

What the hell? I've never in my life heard of Japanese knotweed, even when I lived in Japan. It sounds like some kind of alien triffid species or something.

In Japan, they probably call it British Knotweed. The thing is that in Japan there are natural predators evolved that keep it under control.

poppysarah

ruggedtoast wrote: »

What the hell? I've never in my life heard of Japanese knotweed, even when I lived in Japan. It sounds like some kind of alien triffid species or something.

Ah maybe there they just call it knotweed?



In Japanese, the name is "itadori", and is used in making itadori tea

it had a natural pest that attacks it there so keeping it from being such a major problem I think.
This bug is being tried in the UK to sap the plants' strength.

It always makes me think of the nursery rhyme "there was an old woman who swallowed a fly" though...