Buying a house, Don't know what to do, knotweed

teddysmum

A relative was left a house in the process of being done up by the deceased and being a good price was soon snapped up.....until the buyer's survey showed knotweed (spread from next door..elderly neighbour in priavetly owned ex-council house).


The house then had to be marketed as having problems (please ask) and was eventually sold at a negative to the estate, which had to pay off the existing mortgage (obviously no knotweed spotted a few months before, at the time of purchase), any equity being lost in the large price reduction .

cloo

If it's a small patch that will be treated and you're not planning to move any time soon, then I'd go ahead, given you evidently love the house. Contrary to popular belief, JK is not indestructible and it also won't make your house fall down even if there was more than small patch. I work with someone who is a JK surveying expert and he is working on trying to get lenders to be more considered and sensible about it, so the general sway of informed opinion is that it needn't be the issue it is considered currently.

hazyjo

teddysmum wrote: »

A relative was left a house in the process of being done up by the deceased and being a good price was soon snapped up.....until the buyer's survey showed knotweed (spread from next door..elderly neighbour in priavetly owned ex-council house).


The house then had to be marketed as having problems (please ask) and was eventually sold at a negative to the estate, which had to pay off the existing mortgage (obviously no knotweed spotted a few months before, at the time of purchase), any equity being lost in the large price reduction .

When? The widespread panic was very different a year or two+ ago to how people perceive it today.


A house I looked at recently went under offer. It fell through. I called the EA to see why, and they said JK found adjacent to it. Put it on the market for £15k less (£435k not £450k) and it sold within a couple of weeks again. No idea if the same buyers or not.

Carer

Read this http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2052337/Hertfordshire-couple-demolish-300k-home-rid-Japanese-knotweed.html and also do a google image search for Japanese knotweed damage to see what it can do to buildings.

hazyjo

Carer wrote: »

Read this http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2052337/Hertfordshire-couple-demolish-300k-home-rid-Japanese-knotweed.html and also do a google image search for Japanese knotweed damage to see what it can do to buildings.

It was 2011.


We get loads of JK threads on this board and many of us have seen all the pics, articles, etc. BUT things have changed over the last year or so. People know what it is now, know the damage it's capable of doing, and know not to rely on the Daily Mail for 'news' about it


It's not so scary these days.

Grenage

The Daily Mail; they are never sensational.

DaftyDuck

Well, it seems pretty clear that the scare-mongering over Japanese Knotweed is, like the plant itself, steadily being killed off by a bit of rationality and sanity.

What I see as some of the best news is that people on this thread, with one possible exception (notably also "thanked" by a regular alarmist who is to knotweed what our darling Crashy is to increasing house prices ) would not be put off buying a house mildly affected by Knotweed. That means that attitude will filter back to mortgage companies, who will stop being quite so over-reactive to the issue.

That means the OP can worry less than she might about property resale, should she need to sell (and declare) the history of knotweed at the property.

I'd still like to see some photos, OP, and would like to know you thoroughly checked the surrounding area....

elsien

NelliePie wrote: »

I've lived in a rental property that had knotweed in the back garden (and the neighbours) It was a bit of a nightmare to start with because it was all over the garden and wrapped around many of the bushes and trees but saying that it only took 3 people one day to clear it. We treated it and over the course of the year the odd patch reappeared (we must have missed bits) so we re-treated it and it was manageable. I think that as you're not planning on selling it any time soon, I wouldn't let it put you off just be aware that it might need a little more time and attention than a garden without.

Are you thinking of bindweed rather than knoteeed? Knotweed doesn't wrap itself around bushes and trees, and there is legislation about how to dispose of it - you can't just pull it up and dump it.

NelliePie

It was knotweed, but it was that prolific it was everywhere!

Riggyman

https://www.amazon.co.uk/Roundup-Action-Weedkiller-Spray-Ready/dp/B00187TTUQ/ref=sr_1_2?ie=UTF8&qid=1498257873&sr=8-2&keywords=Glyphosate

Apply liberally, twice a year, especially after the growing season and your knotweed will be gone in 2-3 years. I especially like to accidentally treat my neighbours knotweed over their fence.

No biggie.