Natwest and Japanese Knotweed

charlotteo1988

Hello, 

Just had the TA6 through and the old lady has said there is Japanese Knotweed on the property. 

This is the first we have heard about it. 

natwest have already done their valuation and only asked us to get a report for the flat roof but nothing about Japanese knotweed. 

The property is set in just under a acre of land and there’s a brick wall around the property before you go up into the garden so I can’t imagine it being close to the property. 

She’s a keen gardener with lots of plant pots everywhere. (She even covered the drive with them) and has said she had advice from a nursery and cut back the knotweed and sprayed it with glyphosate but that’s all the information we have on it for now. 

Any advice? Will natwest give us the mortgage? 

csgohan4

Least she declared it than hide it. But you will need a approved contractor to get rid of the knotweed with a guarantee, that is what the lender will ask for. I would declare this to the lender as it is important declaration. Whether you do is up to you, but Knotweed is quite damaging if untreated

charlotteo1988

csgohan4 said:

Least she declared it than hide it. But you will need a approved contractor to get rid of the knotweed with a guarantee, that is what the lender will ask for. I would declare this to the lender as it is important declaration. Whether you do is up to you, but Knotweed is quite damaging if untreated

Thank you for replying. 

She said she is treating it herself with glyphosate as per a nurseries advice but doesn’t have a plan or insurance cert which my solicitor has gone back to ask why she doesn’t have this in place. 

If that was in place and it was a small amount of Japanese knotweed would you carry on with the sale or run a mile regardless? 

Thanks
Charlotte  

csgohan4

She is not treating it properly, it needs an approved contractor to deal with it with the right methods and an insurance guarantee. 

I would walk if she doesn't do it, she will come up with this problem with future buyers. Although she may not mention is a possibility

[Deleted User]

Solicitor will report it to the lender in due course and they will refer it back to the valuer who will likely recommended the offer is withdrawn pending further investigation 

https://www.intermediary.natwest.com/content/dam/natwest_com/Intermediary/PDFs/nwisjapaneseknotweed.pdf

aoleks

I'd rather buy a house with subsidence or other structural issues than have japanese knotweed hundreds of yards from my property, let alone nearby. this plant is the worse thing that can happen to a house, honestly!

ACG

Speak to the solicitor about this because this will potentially be a deal breaker. 

If she is treating it and stopping it from spreading that may be fine for her, but lenders and insurers could have issues. I think you may find she needs to start the treatment plan as a minimum prior to completion with a reputable and insurance backed company. 

She may be reluctant at first but the agents are probably going to have to manage this because it is going to cause problems for any buyer. 

charlotteo1988

ACG said:

Speak to the solicitor about this because this will potentially be a deal breaker. 

If she is treating it and stopping it from spreading that may be fine for her, but lenders and insurers could have issues. I think you may find she needs to start the treatment plan as a minimum prior to completion with a reputable and insurance backed company. 

She may be reluctant at first but the agents are probably going to have to manage this because it is going to cause problems for any buyer. 

Yeah my solicitors has gone back and asked why there isn’t a KMP in place or insurance covering this. I’ll be annoyed if the estate agent acting on the old ladies behalf knew there was knotweed and didn’t tell us. 

We have gone back with a few questions to be answered before we make an informed decision if we want to go ahead or not. Although this might be taken out our hands by the mortgage company anyways. 

I’ve read a lot on line about Japanese knotweed over the weekend and getting mixed reviews about the plant. 

See what happens over the next few weeks 

amnblog

I’ll be annoyed if the estate agent acting on the old ladies behalf knew there was knotweed and didn’t tell us.

Yet, not surprised

SeanG79

aoleks said:

I'd rather buy a house with subsidence or other structural issues than have Japanese Knotweed hundreds of yards from my property, let alone nearby. this plant is the worse thing that can happen to a house, honestly!

You make similar claims on a number of posts, but provide no evidence to support these claims? what physical impact would a Specialist treated knotweed hundreds of yards from a property have on the property when compared with subsidence or structural issues? 

Please provide evidence of Japanese Knotweed causing damage to structurally sound buildings in the UK? And more importantly please provide any evidence in the UK of the damage caused to buildings being worse than other wooded trees? 

aoleks

I don't need evidence to post my opinion based on what I've seen so far in the UK and other countries. with structural issues, for example, I bring an engineer, fix the problem and I know exactly where I stand, what it costs, how to fix it. with japanese knotweed, I'm at the mercy of a plant that literally no one on this planet can eradicate (it's causing massive issues in many countries) and that's not well looked upon by lenders, meaning my asset and freedom is at some degree of risk.

people are free to do what they want and for some, japanese knotweed will be nothing more than an annoyance, for me it's the worst nightmare you can imagine. it didn't get its reputation out of nowhere.