Japanese Knotweed question

Metranil_Vavin

We are in the process of selling our top floor maisonette, and about 5 months ago our next door neighbour noticed what looked like JK growing in the downstairs maisonette's side return..this bit belongs to him, not us, we have no access to it.

We notified him (as he currently rents his flat out and lives elsewhere) and we arranged for a JK specialist to come and ID the plant (it was indeed JK), and also treat it.

After this our involvement has been minimal, our downstairs neighbour paid for the treatment a 'spray as you go' plan, and as far as we know the plant is now dead and it hasn't re-emerged.

fast forward to now we are filling in forms for our property sale, and JK has come up as a question. Do we declare it on the form, even though it was not on part of our maisonette and has to our best knowledge been successfully treated, or do we mention it on the form and get the downstairs neighbour to provide whatever certification/paperwork he received after the treatment and supply this to our solicitor?

I am going to raise this with the solicitor tomorrow, but just wondered if anyone here had, had a similar situation. Obviously I would prefer not to mention it as our buyers appear to be the wobbling types and this will probably put them off completely, however I don't want to get into trouble and have it come back to bite us on the ar5e in years to come.

Any info would be most appreciated.

Davesnave

The TA6 is the form to which you refer. The Law Society's advice relating to the Japanese knotweed question reads as follows:

Question 7.8 - Japanese knotweed

The seller should state whether the property is affected by Japanese knotweed.


Japanese knotweed is a non-native invasive plant that can cause damage to property. Japanese knotweed requires several years of treatment before it can be eradicated.


A Japanese knotweed management plan can help to control the spread of Japanese knotweed and eradicate it.


Most management plans provide a record of works carried out to control Japanese knotweed. They can provide reassurance to mortgage lenders who may be concerned about the impact of Japanese knotweed on the value of the property.


Sellers should provide a copy of any Japanese knotweed management plan to the buyer.


As you can see, it's too soon to be sure the plant is dead and it wouldn't be visible above ground yet anyway.

It's good there is a treatment plan in place. You will need to liaise with your downstairs neighbour and gain more details of the eradication plan in place. Hopefully, you employed a reputable company to carry out the work, which ought to involve monitoring and still be ongoing.

Metranil_Vavin

Thanks for your reply. Yes we have used a reputable local company, and there is a second respray this summer and a final one the following year.

We have added an addendum to the TA6 form having spoken to the solicitor, so fingers crossed:

XXX Road, including the land within the deeds is not affected by Japanese Knotweed.

However, in the interest of disclosure the plant was discovered in the side return of XXX Road (which adjoins the side return of XXX Road, the downstairs maisonette) around 2 years ago, and was eradicated under a professional treatment plan by the owner.

Further, 6 months ago a single sprig of knotweed was discovered by the owner of XXX Road on his side of the adjoining side return and he similarly had this eradicated under a professional treatment plan.

The seller of XXX Road cannot provide guarantees in relation to works carried out on neighbouring properties, and the buyer should conduct a suitable home buyer’s survey to satisfy themselves in this regard.

ThePants999

Any buyer who's put off from buying a top floor maisonette because of knotweed in nearby land is not a buyer you wanted anyway!

Rosieandjim

It is added expense as all flats will have to contribute to trying to control it especially if anyone has read this


https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/2018/04/25/japanese-knotweedcannot-cured-major-study-tried-19-methods-finds/

Davesnave

Rosieandjim wrote: »

It is added expense as all flats will have to contribute to trying to control it especially if anyone has read this

https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/2018/04/25/japanese-knotweedcannot-cured-major-study-tried-19-methods-finds/

In the same year, another university study concluded:


“We found nothing to suggest that Japanese knotweed causes significant damage to buildings.”

https://www.leeds.ac.uk/news/article/4262/japanese_knotweed-not_such_a_knotty_problem

There's lots of sensationalist and just plain wrong info out there, but this conclusion would seem to offer more hope for most people than endless discussion about whether it may be killed, or not.