Japanese Knotweed (again) sorry

beckle_82

Hi,

I've been looking for a property to buy and absolutely fell in love with a house. I put an offer in, even though the buyer wanted a £1,200 non-refundable deposit to secure the sale - which I thought was odd.

I had an offer accepted and the vendor's solicitor then asked I transfered £1,500 over to him via my solicitor. Again thought this was odd, given that it had gone up by £300, but I sent it over to my solicitor who then sent proof they had my money in their account but didn't send it over.

Their solicitor then refused to send over the contract information until we transferred the non-refundable deposit, but again my solicitor thought this was a bit suspicious and managed to negotiate getting the contracts without sending the money over.

When the paperwork was finally sent over it became apparent that the site my lovely dream house had been built on had previously had Japanese Knotweed, which has been treated and has a 10 year treatment plan warranty.

I was just wondering what people would do in my boat? My solicitor says cut and run (seeing as it's not cost me anything so far) and her instincts have been good so far. Would people withdraw their offer and put in a lower one? Is Japanese Knotweed even a big issue nowadays? I'm so confused!

Any help gratefully received!

Davesnave

Japanese knotweed gets a lot of sensdationalist publicity 'these days' and its existence, or former existence, has to be declared by an owner on the enquiries before contract.

For these reasons, houses with an existing or former knotweed problem are stigmatrised in much the same way as those that have needed underpinning. They may be perfectly good houses, but people perceive a risk, even where none exists, so the price they command has to reflect this.

You say the site this house was built on had JK, which was treated under a 10 year contract. Do we assume from this that it's a fairly recent build and that a developer had the work done? If this is the case, look at similar houses' sold prices, if there are any, to establish if this one is priced correctly.

Before proceeding, you'd need to know more details of the treatment and whether the firm that did it had insurance in place in case they went bust. If it was done in the correct way by a reputable contractor, then just like underpinning, the risks would be low, but the house price should still be right, as the stigma will remain for many years.

glasgowdan

I'd revise the offer by 10k but still go ahead if you love the house and plan to be there long term. Or 15k for their cheek!

Rambosmum

To be honest, I'm not sure what the issue is. How old is the house? When was the JK treated?

A house that used to have knotweed on the land, but has been treated and not recurred, I really don't see the issue. Though for them to have declared it it must have been a big issue - the form asks if it's got knotweed, which I interpreted as current (we had it, but 7 years ago, got it treated with a 5 year guarentee which had run out), I'd put no.

I'd refuse to provide the non-refundable deposit though! That's just cheeky.

moneyistooshorttomention

Quite apart from the JK consideration itself - I'd feel more than a little nervous that they were trying to "play me" like that. The fact of trying to get a non-returnable deposit would leave me feeling tricked - considering that that is not the norm in our country.

Them then trying to put it up after the event would make me feel "double whammy" on the attempted trickery point.

They could go on for some time doing this to buyers and having them pull out (maybe upping the deposit amount a bit each time) and soon rack up having been paid £10,000 for absolutely nothing if a succession of buyers pulled out.

Could be a right lark - pull that one a few times on each house and then rent the houses out after all (ie because tenants wouldnt be that concerned about it).

moneyistooshorttomention

Rambosmum wrote: »

To be honest, I'm not sure what the issue is. How old is the house? When was the JK treated?

A house that used to have knotweed on the land, but has been treated and not recurred, I really don't see the issue. Though for them to have declared it it must have been a big issue - the form asks if it's got knotweed, which I interpreted as current (we had it, but 7 years ago, got it treated with a 5 year guarentee which had run out), I'd put no.

I'd refuse to provide the non-refundable deposit though! That's just cheeky.

Guess the legal form needs updating then to say "Have you ever had a treatment programme for JK done on the house - please specify details as to when and who by etc"

Enterprise_1701C

Just thinking about the non-refundable deposit. Could this be the estate agent asking for this rather than the vendor - is it a highly desirable house/area? I have heard of it before when they are asking you to show serious intent.

pinkshoes

I'd tell them you are happy to proceed with the purchase but will not be paying the non refundable deposit.

Davesnave

Enterprise_1701C wrote: »

Just thinking about the non-refundable deposit. Could this be the estate agent asking for this rather than the vendor - is it a highly desirable house/area? I have heard of it before when they are asking you to show serious intent.

Most people would show serious intent by organising a survey and having their solicitor confirm funding, rather than entering into a strange arrangement, where one would be penalised for finding something seriously wrong.
Edit:
As regards the TA6, it asks if the house is affected by JK, which is somewhat ambiguous. If there is a guarantee still current then I'd interpret that as a 'yes,' especially as the next question asks for details of such a plan. Like rambosmum, I agree it's a 'no' if the guarantee has expired and there is nothing evident on the ground or any paperwork to submit.

beckle_82

Thanks guys - just for a bit more information:

The house is brand new and built by a man developing the land rather than a big developer - he had previously developed some new builds around the corner that sold for £15k less last year, but these were on a main road and mine is more secluded.

The mortgage company sent round a surveyor but didn't find any JK. I haven't commissioned a separate survey but might if people think it might be helpful.

And it's definitely the vendor rather than the agent wanting the money. I sent the estate agent over the mortgage offer and proof of deposit and she was happy. From the sounds of it he's had people make offers before, then drop out. Presumably because of the JK!

And I've been sent over evidence of the 10 year warranty which has professional indemnity insurance, although this was only from February 2016 to January 2017, which I'm guessing is when the work took place - and oddly the 10 year guarantee started in 2013!

davidmcn

So, is this deposit "non-refundable" even if there turns out to be something (objectively) wrong with the property, or the vendor starts making unreasonable demands etc? You'd want to negotiate some sort of pre-contract contract to dictate the terms of the deposit. Or just tell them to get lost.