Japanese Knotweed

Jba1988

davidmcn said:

Unless both the OP and their lender are happy with the KW treatment anyway it's not going anywhere near exchange.

I'm still waiting to hear back from my lender - my gut feeling is that they will require it to have been eradicated, which isn't going to be possible at least for several years. The vendor has started a treatment plan, and has had the first round of treatment, so obviously if the sale does progress it would be a condition that this is fully paid for prior to completion.

Marvel1 said:

I had Japanese knotweed growing 4 years ago (didnt really know what it was until year later), bought some roundup tree stump killer, sprayed In September as per instructions.  Last year and this year = nothing.

From the endless reading I've done on the internet about knotweed, it does seem there are 2 camps of people - those who aren't bothered and those that would run a mile - hence I feel that paying the price I originally offered would not be a good thing to do!

hazyjo

Jba1988 said:

davidmcn said:

Unless both the OP and their lender are happy with the KW treatment anyway it's not going anywhere near exchange.

I'm still waiting to hear back from my lender - my gut feeling is that they will require it to have been eradicated, which isn't going to be possible at least for several years. The vendor has started a treatment plan, and has had the first round of treatment, so obviously if the sale does progress it would be a condition that this is fully paid for prior to completion.

Marvel1 said:

I had Japanese knotweed growing 4 years ago (didnt really know what it was until year later), bought some roundup tree stump killer, sprayed In September as per instructions.  Last year and this year = nothing.

From the endless reading I've done on the internet about knotweed, it does seem there are 2 camps of people - those who aren't bothered and those that would run a mile - hence I feel that paying the price I originally offered would not be a good thing to do!

Maybe two camps, but that doesn't mean a 50/50 split. Wouldn't care how much they knocked off, I'd walk. Not much would put me off in a survey, but that and subsidence would have me pulling out. Know I'm being over-cautious, but I'd be too worried.

SouthLondonUser

There isn't enough information.
Where is the knotweed? How far from your property? How much if it is there? Is there a treatment plan in place? How many other properties are affected?

IMHO treatment plans and the related "guarantees" are not as useful as they are made out to be. You typically pay a sum upfront, and what you get is the guarantee that a company will come and treat it for a given number of years. There is an insurance policy linked to it that pays the equivalent cost of the treatment if the company goes bust. I know of cases where the sale of properties worth more than £1m were held up by the bank until they received confirmation of this insurance. Wanna know how much the insurance covered? In one case £800, in another £1,000. Peanuts compared to the value of the properties.

Also, importantly, this insurance covers only the cost of the treatment; no home insurance policy will cover the cost of damage from knotweed, because it is seen as one of those (I forget the technical term) damages that are not sudden but happen over time, so you should be able to spot them in time.

My two cents:

• treatment plans and insurance are almost useless but most banks and surveyors demand them so one should be in place just to tick the box;
• if a treatment plan is in place for all the properties affected, and the infestation seems under control, I wouldn't worry too much;
• if the infestation affects also neighbouring properties and those owners are not cooperative, I'd run a mile;
• ultimately I don't think it's as bad as some tabloids would like you to believe, but real estate is an incredibly subjective and irrational market, so what I think is irrelevant: if loads of people are terrified it will be harder to sell. If you stay in the property long enough and can show the infestation has been, if not eradicated, at least under control for a while, it shouldn't be an issue.

GDB2222

If you can get a mortgage, then you should most definitely expect a discount to the price. But, how much? I’m cautious, so I’d want 25%, and I assume that the sellers would tell me to get lost. So, I’d probably keep my pride intact and simply walk away. 

I suspect that any discount that the sellers would accept would be insufficient to protect me. For example, they might at a stretch accept 5%, but that simply doesn’t add up for me, as I’d worry that lenders will tighten their criteria.  At the end of the day, it’s the seller’s problem and you have no need to make it yours.

SouthLondonUser

Why 25%? Because you think market data supports that properties with knotweed are consistently worth 25%?
Or because you think that it can cause damage to the property which would be very expensive?
Or because you'd want to try your luck?

For what it's worth, I know that Barclays HSBC and Santander all lend against properties with knotweed, as long as there is a treatment plan and it can be shown it's either eradicated or under control.

I'm not saying the OP should ignore the issue, but put it in perspective.

hazyjo

25%? Blimey, that's a crazy amount. I cannot see anyone dropping that cos of knotweed. Buyers will be limited, but I wouldn't expect it to knock an enormous amount off the price.

GDB2222

Interestingly, there was a JKW court case in January. Each side had an expert valuer to advise the court on the effect of JKW on the house value. One said a 3% reduction and the other said 23%. The case was settled out of court, so we'll never know what a judge would have decided - probably halfway in between the two figures. 

So, my 25% figure may be too high, but it's not "a crazy amount" as an expert valuer came up with something very close.  Even the valuer for the defence said 3%, so that's the absolute minimum you'd want knocked off the price. 

I hope that helps.

SouthLondonUser

That's interesting. It would have been even more interesting if they hadn't settled out of court!

I can think of about 4-5 streets in my area or thereabout which are affected by Japanese knotweed, and I have never seen any material difference (in sale prices, looking up the land registry and rightmove) between those properties and those one road down with no knotweed. Of course I have no idea how representative that is nationwide.

elsien

SouthLondonUser said:

There isn't enough information.
Where is the knotweed? How far from your property? How much if it is there? Is there a treatment plan in place? How many other properties are affected?

IMHO treatment plans and the related "guarantees" are not as useful as they are made out to be. You typically pay a sum upfront, and what you get is the guarantee that a company will come and treat it for a given number of years. There is an insurance policy linked to it that pays the equivalent cost of the treatment if the company goes bust. I know of cases where the sale of properties worth more than £1m were held up by the bank until they received confirmation of this insurance. Wanna know how much the insurance covered? In one case £800, in another £1,000. Peanuts compared to the value of the properties.

Also, importantly, this insurance covers only the cost of the treatment; no home insurance policy will cover the cost of damage from knotweed, because it is seen as one of those (I forget the technical term) damages that are not sudden but happen over time, so you should be able to spot them in time.

My two cents:

• treatment plans and insurance are almost useless but most banks and surveyors demand them so one should be in place just to tick the box;
• if a treatment plan is in place for all the properties affected, and the infestation seems under control, I wouldn't worry too much;
• if the infestation affects also neighbouring properties and those owners are not cooperative, I'd run a mile;
• ultimately I don't think it's as bad as some tabloids would like you to believe, but real estate is an incredibly subjective and irrational market, so what I think is irrelevant: if loads of people are terrified it will be harder to sell. If you stay in the property long enough and can show the infestation has been, if not eradicated, at least under control for a while, it shouldn't be an issue.

This ^^^
I have been treating the knotweed in my neighbours garden for the last two years and there's nothing come up so far this year. However it is in neighbouring gardens owned by Rachman type landlords who are not doing anything to address the issue. I can foresee that it would have an impact on my neighbours property value in part because of the general hysteria but also because it will be on ongoing process due to the spread from other properties. 
If you're planning on living there for a long time I'd consider it less of an issue than if you were only staying a couple of years, but context will play a large part in this. 

GDB2222

I'm afraid that I'm one of those people who reach to the back of the shelf in supermarkets. Of course, the stuff at the front of the shelf is okay, but if I can buy one with a longer shelf life at the same price then I will.  Why people would buy a house with a defect for the same price as one without is utterly beyond me.