Buying a flat with Japanese Knotweed

ConfusedofYorkshire

star88 wrote: »

sorry my question was for future flats ..... how would you know if this information was not released by the estate agent and the garden was not under your ownership

Probably doesn't help at this time of year - but have a good google of it and that way you'll know what to look out for. and ask the vendor or estate agent outright because if they are planning not to tell you, then asking straight out might trip them up.

Sounds like you had a lucky escape- hooray for the honest estate agent :j. even if he did try to make out like it was not a problem :eek:

robatwork

If the EA is purporting to be an expert on horticulture as you suggest (it's dormant) then ask them to draft and sign a letter stating that, and they indemnify you against this becoming a problem in future, at their expense.

Watch them backtrack.

Ivana_Tinkle

It'll only be "dormant" in the sense that deciduous trees are "dormant" over the winter - they're not dead and they get their leaves again as soon as the weather warms up.

My experience with knotweed is that it's cheap and easy to stem-treat yourself with glyphosate (although boring and time-consuming) but that you do need to get on with it - you can't ignore it and hope it goes away! But obviously if your mortgage company is making you jump through hoops or refusing to lend then that's another matter.

Mojisola

Ivana_Tinkle wrote: »

It'll only be "dormant" in the sense that deciduous trees are "dormant" over the winter - they're not dead and they get their leaves again as soon as the weather warms up.

My experience with knotweed is that it's cheap and easy to stem-treat yourself with glyphosate (although boring and time-consuming) but that you do need to get on with it - you can't ignore it and hope it goes away!

And if it's in the neighbours' gardens and they aren't working with you to eradicate it, it will be an on-going problem which will still be there when you come to sell.

Jenniefour

Ivana_Tinkle wrote: »

My experience with knotweed is that it's cheap and easy to stem-treat yourself with glyphosate (although boring and time-consuming) but that you do need to get on with it - you can't ignore it and hope it goes away! But obviously if your mortgage company is making you jump through hoops or refusing to lend then that's another matter.

Yes, you can treat it yourself if you find out exactly how to do it and keep at it. But I wouldn't want anyone to have the impression it's easy to eradicate because it's not. Three to four years is the best case scenario if there's no boundary encroachment. It's the worst invasive plant. Develops root system several feet deep, one little piece of broken off stem is enough to get it going again and it grows a few inches every day. Which is why some mortgage lenders take a view on this similar to serious structural problems. Quite properly.