Japanese Knotweed on neighbour’s property

moneyistooshorttomention

Will admit I would have started with a very matter-of-fact type letter informing them that JK was in their garden and had spread to my garden and asking "If you can please tell me when you will be taking remedial action about this and I would appreciate if this could be done urgently", rather than using legal language right away.

Don't know if OP DID start by using a matter of fact letter and got a shirty type letter back or whether he went straight into legal language??

If they had responded with a "not our land/not our problem" letter then I would have pointed out my wall is 1930s and they would appear not to have fenced to the limit of their land and give any evidence I have that the wall predates their fencing and seen if they got on and dealt with at that point or whether I had to "go higher".

Dan-Dan

OP , is it a possibility , that said piece of land belongs to neither of you?

cc120

Hi Davesnave, moneytooshorttomention and Dan-Dan, their building was put up approx 1990's.
So is it council property if the housing association own the land? Are the tenants council tenants?

Who could the land belong to if neither of us?

The knot weed starts immediately after my brick wall and up to their wooden fence, which is situated approx 6 to 12" away from my brick wall.

I could try to eliminate it myself, but wouldn't have the 10 year guarantee given by professional jk removers.

JK would seem to originate from their land as they have so much more of it than I do, I have only one plant in the garden as opposed to their 30 to 50, which run along the length of my garden wall, approx 15 metres.

I don't know where it is stated that the house was built in 1930's, would this be stated on the land deeds or other? But the wall is obviously of the same style and bricks as the house. My family bought the house in 1960 and the wall was there then.

According to the 'Community protection notice' the jk offender has to deal with the problem. If I am seen as the offender, would I be allowed to treat it myself without hiring a professional, for £3,000, who would treat it and issue a 10 year guarantee?

tomtontom

Would you be satisfied if the other party just treated it themselves, with no guarantee?

Be careful what you're taking on here - you're not sure of your case and could end up incurring a whole heap of costs. And if you can't afford to insure your home, how are you going to pay them?

cc120

moneyistooshorttomention wrote: »

Will admit I would have started with a very matter-of-fact type letter informing them that JK was in their garden and had spread to my garden and asking "If you can please tell me when you will be taking remedial action about this and I would appreciate if this could be done urgently", rather than using legal language right away.

Don't know if OP DID start by using a matter of fact letter and got a shirty type letter back or whether he went straight into legal language??

If they had responded with a "not our land/not our problem" letter then I would have pointed out my wall is 1930s and they would appear not to have fenced to the limit of their land and give any evidence I have that the wall predates their fencing and seen if they got on and dealt with at that point or whether I had to "go higher".

No I wrote what I was advised to by https://www.environetuk.com, who were the experts, and said would sue for nuisance if they didn't let me know what they were going to do about the infestation in their and my garden.

Davesnave

cc120 wrote: »

Hi Davesnave, moneytooshorttomention and Dan-Dan, their building was put up approx 1990's.
So is it council property if the housing association own the land? Are the tenants council tenants? How would we know?

Who could the land belong to if neither of us? Again, how would we know? Sometimes, small parcels of land remain unregistered. I used to have such a strip behind my old house. I appropriated it.

The knot weed starts immediately after my brick wall and up to their wooden fence, which is situated approx 6 to 12" away from my brick wall.

I could try to eliminate it myself, but wouldn't have the 10 year guarantee given by professional jk removers. If you eliminate it, will that be a problem? For whom?

JK would seem to originate from their land as they have so much more of it than I do, I have only one plant in the garden as opposed to their 30 to 50, which run along the length of my garden wall, approx 15 metres. The HA are saying this is not their land, so it may be up to you to prove that it is before you can try to attach blame regarding origin.

I don't know where it is stated that the house was built in 1930's, would this be stated on the land deeds or other? But the wall is obviously of the same style and bricks as the house. My family bought the house in 1960 and the wall was there then. The title documents usually record the date of first transfer, but the ownership of the wall is not disputed.

According to the 'Community protection notice' the jk offender has to deal with the problem. If I am seen as the offender, would I be allowed to treat it myself without hiring a professional, for £3,000, who would treat it and issue a 10 year guarantee?

Treating knotweed is not especially complex. One just needs an understanding the life cycle of the plant, vigilance and a methodical approach to the application of chemical treatments. That would be "dealing with the problem."

However, I'm not at all sure that this case is one of community protection or that the extended powers, as detailed earlier, can be applied here.

I can only reiterate what I've already said, which is that this matter needs a face to face discussion, so that you get a better understanding of the housing association's take on this. You need to know why they think you own the unclaimed strip.

Having tried, and failed, to take out a private injunction against them, having this conversation with the HA will not be easy, but I see it as the best way forward for both sides, as Japanese knotweed does not respect boundaries.

moneyistooshorttomention

You do have a problem with how best to tackle this - having made your first move a "heavy boots - and legal threat" one (ie rather than a polite/informed/open to discussion one).

Being on the other end of that - ie my neighbours are the ones who whacked straight in with the "heavy boots" approach - then that puts backs up/causes heels to be dug firmly in by the other side. In my case - I guess my neighbours went for the "heavy boots" approach - because the facts aren't on their side. It is a possibility that the HA might be wondering whether that is the reason why you went in with "heavy boots" right at the outset (ie maybe the facts aren't on your side?) and hence be more likely to dispute what the facts are.

NB; From what you say - I think the facts probably ARE on your side in this case.

Anyway - you've taken this self-seeking firms advice and started off the wrong way. This firm may very well be the right way to go about things - in the correct circumstances (ie a bit of land where ownership couldn't possibly be disputed).

Having done that - then the question is how to "rescue" the situation and I would suggest the first step is to establish who is the legal owner of that strip of land. Its almost certainly the HA by the sound of it - but it doesn't look like you have tried to get that absolutely plain.

If you can get that ownership provably clear - then perhaps you might just be able to backtrack to a standard ordinary conversation with an executive at the HA responsible (as it will be their role to ensure they stay calm/logical/etc in conversation - so one would hope they would do so).

VfM4meplse

I have no direct experience of this but know that JK can be an utter nightmare.

OP, please keep us updated over the coming months.

Ian011

Davesnave wrote: »

If you believe that Japanese Knotweed is growing on land owned, managed and maintained by Network Rail (this includes railway tracks and property both used and disused) then you can it report directly to Network Rail on 08457 11 41 41 or by visiting the Network Rail website.
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