Japanese Knotweed

shortcrust

Like Boler1985, I'd treat it myself which will cost tens of pounds rather than thousands. The only advantage I can see to getting the 'professionals' in is the insurance backed guarantee, and that's only worth having if you're planning to sell.

I thought I had knotweed a few weeks back (it was bindweed, misidentified by my neighbour...:o) and wondered if my vendor had lied. My thinking was 'thank god they didn't mention it!' because I love my house, knotweed or not, and an honest answer might have led to the sale falling through.

This thread might be of interest. Lots of practical and reassuring advice:

https://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/discussion/5820757/japanese-knotweed-has-started

cloo

Yes, you do have grounds to make a legal complaint - you have a third party who claims they knew what the issue was and they have lied on their form.


At the same time, try not to be too mad at the vendors... given the hysteria about it (which is unnecessary) I kind of don't blame people for not dealing with it if they need to sell a place.



We had a slight knotweed issue (self treated, not seen for just about long enough to be considered clear) that we did declare on our form, especially as our upstairs neighbour was aware of it, and were lucky to find a buyer who wasn't bothered about it.


I know people who have just torn the stuff up to hide it before selling as the alternative is to try to shift a house with new treatment agreement that mortgage lenders may or may not accept, and maybe be stuck there for years until the knotweed can be declared clear, maybe in a place that they've outgrown or whatever. People are basically pushed to hide it rather than treat it - and it is treatable and doesn't destroy buildings with foundations, so lenders are being way over-the-top about it.

Bass_9

cloo wrote: »

Yes, you do have grounds to make a legal complaint - you have a third party who claims they knew what the issue was and they have lied on their form.


At the same time, try not to be too mad at the vendors... given the hysteria about it (which is unnecessary) I kind of don't blame people for not dealing with it if they need to sell a place.



We had a slight knotweed issue (self treated, not seen for just about long enough to be considered clear) that we did declare on our form, especially as our upstairs neighbour was aware of it, and were lucky to find a buyer who wasn't bothered about it.


I know people who have just torn the stuff up to hide it before selling as the alternative is to try to shift a house with new treatment agreement that mortgage lenders may or may not accept, and maybe be stuck there for years until the knotweed can be declared clear, maybe in a place that they've outgrown or whatever. People are basically pushed to hide it rather than treat it - and it is treatable and doesn't destroy buildings with foundations, so lenders are being way over-the-top about it.

I can absolutely understand what you're saying, no-one wants to find themselves in this nightmare, people don't deliberately introduce it to their own property...

However it's simply not right to hide it and what the vendors have done here is illegal. It appears that they have also not taken responsibility to try and sort it out once they were aware too. By comparison cloo it sounds like you did the right thing and thankfully it wasn't an issue when you sold. :beer:

OP - unfortunately you're in this situation now and you will have to deal with it, try to push aside any anger and get proactive. You have the right to make a legal complaint, but just be prepared it may be stressful. Best of luck with it. X

cloo

No, it's the not the right thing for your buyer... and it was very stupid of them to do it when the neighbour knew.


I'll be totally honest, had our upstairs neighbour (the freeholder) not know of it we probably wouldn't have said anything about the JK, feeling fairly confident as it hadn't been seen for 3 seasons and, in that scenario, having plausible deniability if it did reappear. Our buyer was an experienced property developer and he didn't find a vague possibility that we might be wrong a big deal, but I suspect most FTB's would run for the hills given the media scare stories.

moneyistooshorttomention

Mimi90 wrote: »

Thanks for that Boler1985.

Everyone, I just came across the TA6 form, he's ticked no. He's lied.

Think of it this way - he lied = he's stupid (ie did he honestly think the neighbour wouldnt tell you what's what? Duh....:cool:)

You aren't stupid - so you have an advantage over him straight away.

Always handy to be more intelligent than the person one is up against....