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

Caveat_Mortgagor

OP may wish to read the link and realise what a lucky escape they have had!

http://www.dgsgardening.btinternet.co.uk/japknot.htm

Some bulletpoints

• It is very aggressive damaging paving and tarmac as it spreads - on one occasion it found its way into a livingroom, coming up through the floorboards

• if chopped up, it can regenerate from as little as a 2 cm piece of rhizome in soil or in water

• The native environment of the plant is on the slopes of volcanos

• The stems become woody as they mature, growing at a rate of 100 to 120mm per day and reaching up to 3 metres in height.

• The extensive underground rhizome system can be to a depth of 3m, giving it great resistance to eradication.

• It is capable of spreading to an area the size of a tennis court in one year and the underground parts may be extending up to 7 metres beyond edges of the topgrowth - so any soil within this area could contain rhizomes and should not be spread elsewhere or taken off site.

Anyone who borrows a lot of money to buy a house afflicted with JK isnt safe to make their own financial decisions!

rlc22

JingleJangle wrote: »

Do surveyors routinely look out for this? I have never heard of this plant before reading this thread. I am pretty certain the surveys I have had over the years have made little reference to the plants in the garden beyond stating the obvious concerning laid to lawn and level of maturity.

Yes, surveyors are aware that lenders won't mortgage a property with Japanese Knotweed.

The only problem with this is that during winter you wouldn't necessarily identify it as Knotweed.

Weirdly I'd never heard of it until the other week when I found out that it was present on the land of one of my family's neighbour's and now I seem to be reading about it everywhere!

paddedjohn

Make-it-3 wrote: »

and then we'll need Japanese cats to control the Japanese birds that eat the Japanese pests that worry the Japanese knotweed, that pushes up structures

And then we'll need Chinese restaurants to deal with the Japanese cats that control the Japanese birds that eat the Japanese pests that worries the Japanese knotweed.:rotfl:

cottager

Caveat_Mortgagor wrote: »

OP may wish to read the link and realise what a lucky escape they have had!

http://www.dgsgardening.btinternet.co.uk/japknot.htm

Veering off the OP's topic (sorry), it says at that link:
Under the 1981 Wildlife and Countryside Act, it is an offence in the UK to allow it to grow in the wild.

Does this mean if it was on local authority land, they'd be obliged by law to deal with it, if reported? There's a patch of it about half a mile up the road from us on a laneside verge (rural area). Would that be classed as "in the wild"?

Did a search for something on the council's site and they do have a brief para about it, but all they say is:
If you have problems with Japanese Knotweed growing in the vicinity of your property please consult the Environment Agency for methods of clearance/disposal.

This seems to make the assumption you find it somewhere on your land and you're responsible, whereas this is growing somewhere I would have thought they were responsible for.

GDB2222

cottager wrote: »

Veering off the OP's topic (sorry), it says at that link:
Under the 1981 Wildlife and Countryside Act, it is an offence in the UK to allow it to grow in the wild.

Does this mean if it was on local authority land, they'd be obliged by law to deal with it, if reported? There's a patch of it about half a mile up the road from us on a laneside verge (rural area). Would that be classed as "in the wild"?

Did a search for something on the council's site and they do have a brief para about it, but all they say is:
If you have problems with Japanese Knotweed growing in the vicinity of your property please consult the Environment Agency for methods of clearance/disposal.

This seems to make the assumption you find it somewhere on your land and you're responsible, whereas this is growing somewhere I would have thought they were responsible for.

If it's anything like my local council, they will leave it entirely until it destroys the road entirely. Then they will spend millions putting it all right.

jayship

I had never heard of Japanese Knotweed until 2 weeks back when watching a TV programme called Help! My home is falling down. It may be worth watching to learn the destruction it can cause. Am not surprised that the lenders r reluctant. However there is always a possibility that another lender may be willing to take on the risk but may probably charge u a little extra on the loan.

Welshwoofs

I had no problem getting a mortgage on a house which had Japanese Knotweed that had spread down a watercourse and into the gardens of all houses along it.

FWIW I wouldn't bother with the Environment Agency; they were the first place I tried as it's spreading via a gully but they didn't want to know...probably because they don't have the funds to deal with the amount of the stuff that's around the place.

I'd also say that if you pull up and burn the dead stems a surveyor would have a cat's chance in hell of knowing you have knotweed on your property if you're selling in Autumn or Winter

robk30

Hello,

I've always been told avoid a property with Japanese knotweed.

Last spring, a bug (psyllid Aphalara itadori) that feeds on the knotweed was released in a number of sites in the UK.

Unfortunately it’s a five year plan but initial reports are good and the testing is continuing.

Don't ask me what the bug is, I think it is a sort of greenfly type creature.

I tried post a link to a BBC news page detailing knotweed and the bug but as I'm a newbie I was not allowed.

Aaron_Strutt

It is quite possible to get a mortgage on a property with Japanese Knotweed, although if the property valuer spots it, the lender may well decline the application.

A large bank has just announced that they will be happy to look at properties with Japanese Knotweed.

Aaron from Trinity Financial.

vax2002

Buy a goat...