Japanese Knotweed (again) sorry

hazyjo

I'd be a bit more worried about what was actually underneath the house - especially when all the land would have been turned over to lay foundations, etc. One tiny little bit of it can grow back into a full sized plant. I'd be worried it would have spread all over the land the house was built on.


I suppose it depends on when they found the JK. Before or after they started digging/building? Was the house already started?

Kittenonthekeys

"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."

In a nutshell

ashe

Is it not basically the same as a reservation fee that developers take? Sometimes these are detailed as non refundable.

davidmcn

ashe wrote: »

Is it not basically the same as a reservation fee that developers take? Sometimes these are detailed as non refundable.

But not literally non-refundable in any circumstances - they will have conditions attached to them, an industry code of practice of how they're meant to be treated, and in any event you pretty much know what you're going to get for a newbuild.

daveyjp

Check the planning application. If it is recent there may be a condition for details of the treatment plan to be approved.

This will be available to view.

ashe

davidmcn wrote: »

But not literally non-refundable in any circumstances - they will have conditions attached to them, an industry code of practice of how they're meant to be treated, and in any event you pretty much know what you're going to get for a newbuild.

yes thats what I mean - they might say its non refundable but there are situations where it will be. The developer being a private individual may just be phrasing this wrong, but it appears to be a plot reservation fee? If you just decide 'I dont really like this place afterall' then of course its lost, if you get a survey done and its going to fall down, obviously you should get it back.

davidmcn

ashe wrote: »

yes thats what I mean - they might say its non refundable but there are situations where it will be. The developer being a private individual may just be phrasing this wrong, but it appears to be a plot reservation fee? If you just decide 'I dont really like this place afterall' then of course its lost, if you get a survey done and its going to fall down, obviously you should get it back.

Well, that's what I mean by a pre-contract contract. You could spend some time negotiating what you mean by an unacceptable survey. But I'm presuming (since the OP hasn't mentioned it) that the seller hasn't proposed any conditions attached to the deposit.
And the point I think is not that it's similar to the plot reservation fee which a builder would be asking for, but that it's completely unlike the zero deposit that anybody else would be asking for.

pinklady21

In your circumstances, I would be following my solicitor's advice.

beckle_82

Thanks for the advice guys - I've taken my solicitor's advice on this and withdrawn as her instincts have been spot on so far!

I'm less frustrated about the JK and more about the fact they withheld information at a ransom of £1,200 then £1,500!

sheff6107

It's not a massive issue if there is a small patch in the garden. Year 1 - spray in summer and inject the stems in autumn. Repeat in year 2 (the plant should be much smaller), and hopefully nothing will sprout in year 3.

Problems arise if it is on adjacent land and you cant get at it to tackle it.

The biggest problems are if you want to build on contaminated land because you have to sift tons and tons of earth before you can build. Like this house possibly.