House has Japanese Knotweed

Davesnave

cloo wrote: »

You still haven't said who identified it as JK, by the way

spadoosh wrote: »

Their mate, Dave.

It wasn't Dave. He said it was bindweed.

Indeed we've reached the second page of the thread and we haven't been told, but the fact that it's a surprise so late in the purchase process suggests it's a disclosure rather than a survey.

An isolated stand wouldn't bother me, but if a mortgage is involved, then it's the attitude of the lender which counts. The solicitor has a duty to disclose to them.

Also, I'd want to know if it really was an isolated patch, which is quite difficult to ascertain at this time of year. It's not much good, planning to eradicate it, if adjoining neighbours are sharing theirs.

As usual, the devil is all in the detail.

daveyjp

At this time of year you really need to know what to look for to identify knotweed from other plants.

The plant has died above ground, leaving the rhizomes which will begin growing next spring. There will be dead looking bamboo style canes, possibly with dried leaves.

If it is knotweed 5 sq m isn’t that much. 3-4 treatments during July-Sept next year should see it off and it needn’t cost thousands.

EachPenny

daveyjp wrote: »

If it is knotweed 5 sq m isn’t that much. 3-4 treatments during July-Sept next year should see it off and it needn’t cost thousands.

That sounds wildly optimistic. 5 sqm would imply a well established network of roots and rhizomes which typically take several treatments over a period of years to achieve just a dormant state.

For DIY treatment, application of Glyphosate over four to five growing seasons is a more realistic timescale.

Also, the recommendations of liberal application of Glyphosate in some of the posts above rely on the infestation not being near a watercourse or being in proximity to a SSSI. Failure to comply with pesticide regulations (which also apply to DIYers) can result in very substantial fines.

moneyistooshorttomention

EachPenny wrote: »

That sounds wildly optimistic. 5 sqm would imply a well established network of roots and rhizomes which typically take several treatments over a period of years to achieve just a dormant state.

For DIY treatment, application of Glyphosate over four to five growing seasons is a more realistic timescale.

Also, the recommendations of liberal application of Glyphosate in some of the posts above rely on the infestation not being near a watercourse or being in proximity to a SSSI. Failure to comply with pesticide regulations (which also apply to DIYers) can result in very substantial fines.

This is where I think it might be helpful to know how long/how much effort it takes to ensure it's not just "dormant" - but absolutely "dead as a doornail" and use the garden totally as per normal (ie as if it had never been in the first place). I'm still remembering someone near here complaining that people who bought a house with treated JK in the garden and assuming the garden was completely normal (as they didnt know that fact) started using the garden totally as normal and digging here/there/everywhere and it had only been dormant and not "dead/gone/problem over for evermore" and it came back again.

I remember that because the person concerned was quite indignant these new owners were complaining about it and didnt seem to get my response of "Of course they were going to treat the garden as if it were normal in all respects - since no-one had told them it used to be there and could only be counted as dormant and not dead. They are the ones 'in the right' here".

A garden is only fully "sorted" if it's fully sorted - ie you'd never know it used to be there and can carry on totally as per normal (digging around as much as you please - as per a normal garden) and as organically as you wish etc etc and dont have to worry it might "wake up" and/or your garden isnt as organic as you've decided it will be.

People are absolutely entitled to have whatever style of garden they have personally decided on - and the criteria for how the land must be in the first place is a lot higher for "an organic garden one is going to be doing loads of digging in and then growing food organically" to one that is only going to be a "concrete garden" anyway.

EachPenny

moneyistooshorttomention wrote: »

This is where I think it might be helpful to know how long/how much effort it takes to ensure it's not just "dormant" - but absolutely "dead as a doornail" and use the garden totally as per normal (ie as if it had never been in the first place).

That's really the problem, short of excavating the entire site and putting up 100% effective barriers around the boundary, it is difficult to be sure you have got rid of the problem for good.

That is why, in part, the contractors charge so much and offer an insurance-backed guarantee - and why lenders normally insist on this. In effect the contractors are not saying they will fix the problem for good, but that they will come back again and give it further treatment when the problem reoccurs in the future.

And that is the danger with the DIY advice for buyers on this forum. You can happily buy a property with JKW and manage it yourself, but when you come to sell a future purchaser/lender will want a clean bill of health. If the paperwork when you buy now has reference to JKW and that is seen by a buyer/lender in the future, then they would rightly expect to see proof that the problem has been fixed by the JKW being killed, rather than simply hoping it is not just dormant. And since it is not possible to tell fron just looking at the surface whether the JKW is dormant or dead, only an insurance backed guarantee is going to give lenders the comfort they will expect.

moneyistooshorttomention

EachPenny wrote: »

That's really the problem, short of excavating the entire site and putting up 100% effective barriers around the boundary, it is difficult to be sure you have got rid of the problem for good.

That is why, in part, the contractors charge so much and offer an insurance-backed guarantee - and why lenders normally insist on this. In effect the contractors are not saying they will fix the problem for good, but that they will come back again and give it further treatment when the problem reoccurs in the future.

And that is the danger with the DIY advice for buyers on this forum. You can happily buy a property with JKW and manage it yourself, but when you come to sell a future purchaser/lender will want a clean bill of health. If the paperwork when you buy now has reference to JKW and that is seen by a buyer/lender in the future, then they would rightly expect to see proof that the problem has been fixed by the JKW being killed, rather than simply hoping it is not just dormant. And since it is not possible to tell fron just looking at the surface whether the JKW is dormant or dead, only an insurance backed guarantee is going to give lenders the comfort they will expect.

Absolutely!

...and I have yet to know what would give a buyer the 100% guarantee that the garden is now totally normal/carry on as per normal in every respect.

Personally - I'd want to take a good look at neighbouring land (ie to know it couldnt creep back in) and to know that it had been totally dug up and earth completely removed "quite a few" years ago and not just chemically-treated. The whole idea of a garden that had been blasted like mad with chemicals would be quite enough personally to put me right off - as I'd feel I wanted to dig up the earth and remove it and be wondering where I could buy new topsoil from somewhere else in the country.

daveyjp

EachPenny wrote: »

That sounds wildly optimistic. 5 sqm would imply a well established network of roots and rhizomes which typically take several treatments over a period of years to achieve just a dormant state.

For DIY treatment, application of Glyphosate over four to five growing seasons is a more realistic timescale.

Also, the recommendations of liberal application of Glyphosate in some of the posts above rely on the infestation not being near a watercourse or being in proximity to a SSSI. Failure to comply with pesticide regulations (which also apply to DIYers) can result in very substantial fines.

5 sq m (2.2m x 2.2m) is not much more than a single stand. It really is easy to get rid of the vast majority of such a small amount in one year.

Riggyman

If your mortgage lender has a problem with it, then you have a problem.
If they don’t and it’s not that close to the house just squirt it liberally with glcophosate and it’ll cost a few tens of pounds.
It is reiliant but doesn’t do well with repeated treatment.

SquirrelRM

Can I just ask a question about this please. I recently found out (via a Facebook group for my development) that our new build that we moved into in August has JKW. It has been treated and my neighbour has a 10 year warranty. We, however had absolutely no idea of this problem and nothing was mentioned by our solicitor. When asked he initially said there wasn’t any on the site, then said there was but it didn’t effect my plot and the told me it had been treated and that there was a 10 year guarantee. I am not sure if my mortgage company is aware of the JKW and also want to know if I can complain about the solicitor not advising of this at any point during our purchase? Thank you.

EachPenny

SquirrelRM wrote: »

Can I just ask a question about this please. I recently found out (via a Facebook group for my development) that our new build that we moved into in August has JKW. It has been treated and my neighbour has a 10 year warranty. We, however had absolutely no idea of this problem and nothing was mentioned by our solicitor. When asked he initially said there wasn’t any on the site, then said there was but it didn’t effect my plot and the told me it had been treated and that there was a 10 year guarantee. I am not sure if my mortgage company is aware of the JKW and also want to know if I can complain about the solicitor not advising of this at any point during our purchase? Thank you.

If the whole site has been treated professionally and all properties have a 10 year guarantee then I'm not sure you really have a problem. If the mortgage company don't know about this then they might not be happy with the solicitor, but the usual thing would be for them to require a treatment plan and/or a guarantee, which apparently is in place, so the outcome isn't far different to what would have happened if the solicitor had told them.

Except it is arguable that the mortgage company might have refused to give you a mortgage, in which case you might not be living in the home you now have. Who has lost out? You or the mortgage company?

Personally I'd want to get hold of a copy of the guarantee and check that it is effective, and other than that I'd do nothing else.