Japanese knotweed - ?????HELP! please

bubbles29

Hi all
a few days ago we viewed a house i would love to buy - im a first time buyer and desperate to get a foot on the ladder!
the house is priced waaaaay below whats its worth , we found due to there being japanese knotweed in the garden and 2 roof trusses removed. having researched the knotweed, it would seem i wont even get a mortgage... however i am not one to just "give up"
from what we have seen there are two lots of the JK in the garden one in the grass and one fairly near the house, they are small, just one/2 stems and a few inches tall. no evidence in neighbours gardens of the plant. it is growing in abundance nr the river across the road and a field.
is it worth trying to pursue this if i can get the mortgage if i get a professional team in to treat it??? or shall i just walk away?
any advice would be greatly appreciated!
thanks:j

FOX_HOUND

I'm amazed that the seller didn't just snap off the weed. Nobody would be any the wiser. I had it in the garden of my previous house. I just kept digging it. With so little of it I would have thought that you could rub glyphosate on it wearing a rubber glove.

Up in the south wales valleys they call it pea shooter due to the hollow stems. The roots can be as thick as your arm. It loves water and is commonly found near water courses.

marliepanda

FOX_HOUND wrote: »

I'm amazed that the seller didn't just snap off the weed. Nobody would be any the wiser. I had it in the garden of my previous house. I just kept digging it. With so little of it I would have thought that you could rub glyphosate on it wearing a rubber glove.

If it is 'growing in abundance across the road' I hardly think that snapping the heads off the ones in the garden would help...

SailorSam

http://www.environment-agency.gov.uk/homeandleisure/wildlife/130079.aspx

FOX_HOUND

marliepanda wrote: »

If it is 'growing in abundance across the road' I hardly think that snapping the heads off the ones in the garden would help...

It was growing in abundance across the lane from my old house. Still got bought on a mortgage. And twice after. Besides, in my old case it would have made a terrace of 50 houses unmortgageable. In fact, thousands of houses in the south wales valleys would be unmortgeable if the problem was that serious.

bubbles29

there is a whole estate built- prob more than 50 houses and as u say it would leave the whole lot unmortgageable ... my thought are that previous owner has maybe brought a bit into the garden without realising and then it has grew. the river is quite a distance across the road and across a playing fireld.
i do know that someone has put in an offer and had mortgage refused because of the weed, so im assuming it could be the same for me .

marliepanda

https://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/discussion/3385364

A mortgage company won't lend on a house that they view as in a risky situation.

You may have trouble selling it in future because people won't be able to get a mortgage for it (thats if YOU can get a mortgage...)

Is the house really worth the trouble? You say it is priced low, its not a bargain, its priced low because of the JK and to attract cash buyers who dont need mortgages.

FOX_HOUND

bubbles29 wrote: »

there is a whole estate built- prob more than 50 houses and as u say it would leave the whole lot unmortgageable ... my thought are that previous owner has maybe brought a bit into the garden without realising and then it has grew. the river is quite a distance across the road and across a playing fireld.
i do know that someone has put in an offer and had mortgage refused because of the weed, so im assuming it could be the same for me .

In my case the weed was in my back garden, my neighbours property and across the lane in the adjacent allotment less than 30 yards away. But this was 6 years ago so perhaps mortgage companies and surveyors take more interest in it now.

bubbles29

the house really is a bargain- obviously because of the weed, it is only 2 small plants one stem on each.. i am aware of the problems it poses - ive been reading about it eveyr day since thursday! lol

marliepanda

bubbles29 wrote: »

the house really is a bargain- obviously because of the weed, it is only 2 small plants one stem on each.. i am aware of the problems it poses - ive been reading about it eveyr day since thursday! lol

But dont you see that its not a bargain? Its a liability.

Why havent the sellers treated it so they can sell it for a higher price?

From what I have read it can spread incredibly, so it may be 2 small plants now, but what about later? And near the house, could wreck the foundations.

FOX_HOUND

bubbles29 wrote: »

there is a whole estate built- prob more than 50 houses and as u say it would leave the whole lot unmortgageable ... my thought are that previous owner has maybe brought a bit into the garden without realising and then it has grew. the river is quite a distance across the road and across a playing fireld.
i do know that someone has put in an offer and had mortgage refused because of the weed, so im assuming it could be the same for me .

If you had knotweed in a big way in the garden you would see it. What you describe are a couple of plants. If you keep pulling the top off it will eventually die off or rub with glyphosate. The main amount of weed seems far away. Where I lived huge amounts of knotweed were close and yet it did not spread because no shoots were visible. Sounds like the surveyor has got paranoid.