Japanese knot weed

daveyjp

If the work to clear it was done 7 years ago there is absolutely nothing to concern yourself with.

If any rhizomes been missed it would have regrown the year after the works and would be well established by now.

All I would be checking is there isn't another source close by, in particular railways and rivers/canals

Doozergirl

aoleks said:

I would want a very significant discount on the property, even though I wouldn't buy it myself. I know, there is a chance everything will be just fine, like others have said, but this plant is just not worth the stress for me.

If I was to buy the house, though, I'd want the price lowered to account for potential future problems and less buyers due to the rightful reputation of this plant.

Except it isn't a rightful reputation.  That's exactly what RICS say in the report. 

"Regrettably, the impact in the market was

also increasingly influenced by exaggerated media reporting, resulting in an adverse public perception out of all proportion to the actual problem."

"Japanese knotweed rarely causes structural damage to substantial buildings such as dwellings. Large stands or growths of Japanese knotweed, if left uncontrolled, can damage lightweight structures, freestanding walls, retaining walls, paths, hardstandings, drains and other ancillary features but, even in immediate proximity to significant structures, Japanese knotweed is not typically associated with major issues such as subsidence, heave or impact damage. The 2018 paper by Fennell et al explains why the biology of Japanese knotweed means it is less capable of causing significant structural damage than trees or many woody plant species such as buddleia."

eddddy

samps1973 said:

Japanes knotweed

1. Does it effect the current valuation.

2.Does it effect future valuations.

3. Cost for future control and testing. Who pays.

4. Will this effect any insurances taken out on the home. wills

5. Will it affect the saleability of the property

6.where to get advice on this

7. Will I need to let the EA/ Buyer know about this problem when I come to sell or is that for solicitors to sort out.

8. Is the guarantee transferable to the new owners.

I'm not sure that a solicitor is the best person to ask about those questions.

• It's better to ask a valuer about the impact on valuations.

• Or if you mean "will the property sell for less, because of the knotweed history", it's better to ask an estate agent. They deal with lots of buyers and lots of properties, so they know how they tend to react to things like this. (This also applies to your saleability question.) But attitudes change - in future years, buyers might be more or less concerned than today.

• Read the terms of the warranty to see what it covers (e.g. cost of control, testing etc). Once the warranty expires, it will be the home owner who covers the costs.

• It's very unlikely that a buildings insurance policy will provide cover for damage by Japanese Knotweed. But it shouldn't affect any other cover, or result in increased premiums. Check with the insurance companies.

• When you eventually sell - estate agents are supposed to ask the seller about 'material information' that would impact on a buyer's decision - so that the agent can inform the buyers in advance. (A lot of people might say that a history of Japanese Knotweed is material information.) Currently, not all estate agents do this very thoroughly. But maybe that will gradually change.

Some estate agents argue that:

• If the buyer isn't told in advance, the buyer will find out during the conveyancing process. The 'nasty surprise' plus the anger that nobody told them, is likely to make them walk away - which wastes everyone's time and money.

Other estate agents might argue that:

• If the buyer isn't told in advance, the buyer will have become emotionally attached to the property and spent hundreds of pounds on fees, before they find out. So they're less likely to walk away.

But if the estate agent knowingly withholds 'material information', they're breaking consumer protection laws, and could be ordered to pay compensation to the buyers - so reputable estate agents will make sure they tell buyers about the knotweed history very early on.

nyermen

Find out if it was a complete excavation or not (sometimes they can't do a full one due to factors such as roots of TPO'd trees, nearby utilities, water works, etc.
If it's complete, and nothing after 7 years, I'd be reasonably comfortable its gone.  As i understand, excavation is a good approach to it, the main reason its not used more is cost.

Buy the house for 10+ years, by the time it comes to sell, you'd have 17 years of no regrowth.  But as others have said, check there isn't another source nearby.

GDB2222

Doozergirl said:

aoleks said:

I would want a very significant discount on the property, even though I wouldn't buy it myself. I know, there is a chance everything will be just fine, like others have said, but this plant is just not worth the stress for me.

If I was to buy the house, though, I'd want the price lowered to account for potential future problems and less buyers due to the rightful reputation of this plant.

Except it isn't a rightful reputation.  That's exactly what RICS say in the report. 

"Regrettably, the impact in the market was

also increasingly influenced by exaggerated media reporting, resulting in an adverse public perception out of all proportion to the actual problem."

"Japanese knotweed rarely causes structural damage to substantial buildings such as dwellings. Large stands or growths of Japanese knotweed, if left uncontrolled, can damage lightweight structures, freestanding walls, retaining walls, paths, hardstandings, drains and other ancillary features but, even in immediate proximity to significant structures, Japanese knotweed is not typically associated with major issues such as subsidence, heave or impact damage. The 2018 paper by Fennell et al explains why the biology of Japanese knotweed means it is less capable of causing significant structural damage than trees or many woody plant species such as buddleia."

Accepting all that, it still does affect saleability at the moment. It’s hardly by chance that the sellers waited until the last minute before disclosing the information. 

user1977

Lots of newbuild sites have had contamination of one sort or another. If you've got evidence that it's been cleaned up satisfactorily, it's not going objectively going to affect the value or marketability.

Indeed you're arguably in a safer position than all the properties where nobody has done proper testing for contamination.

Rambosmum

Wouldn't bother me at all, though we did buy a house with knotweed in the small front garden, about 3 inches from the front window. It wasn't a big deal or expensive to deal with and didn't impact remortgaging or future sale. 

samps1973

Thanks all for your posts,

I've read every post and every one is helpful.

To be honest if i let it this could stress me out, however this is a large amount of money a £192,000, so I'm not going to let my emotions like anger etc take over as it wont solve anything. I'm also not going to be rushed into a decision. If I dont feel comfortable I'll pull out.

Something I have to think about is that I rent at the moment so making any money on a property is better than I'm doing now. But I wont be ripped off!! By people who have tried to figure out a way to sell the properties knowing that there is a problem and sneakily too.

There are a total of 15 properties on the site and I'm the 1st person to buy one back in July. Since then they have recently sold a further 4. It did seem a bit weird that the properties was built so long ago (2015). I've done a bit of research and on the council planning site people have said that they have tried to sell through various agencies. I did wonder why but now I think I know why, JKW!!

Anyway, action plan!

1) First of all I need to know if Santander will still give me a mortgage. The developer is covered up to the hilt on this, they even have the receipt from 2015 when they took the excavated soil to the tip. They probably know that my mortgage will be approved. As someone said here they also know that I'm 7 months in and owe most of the conveyancing money now. What they dont know is I would rather loose £2,000 rather than 10's of £1,000s of pounds in the long run and be stuck in a flat I cant sell.

If the lender doesnt approve the mortgage, my conveyancing fees are covered as I paid insurance and the company I went through to get a solicitor will pay for the conveyancing on my next purchase.

If they do approve it I will probably try to contact that department and ask for advice. They know what their doing and probably the best people to talk to.

Im also going to check I havent been missold this property as its 7 months before my solicitor found out, that cant be right surely.

Something else i need to find out is after the 12 year guarantee is up will the property still be tagged as having JKW or not And will it need to be mentioned to new buyers after this point.

I asked my solicitors all them questions I put up yesterday, I didn't get a response. They will probably wait to see what the lender says first.

I know the EA is selling me the property but I thought I'd ask them on the off chance. My contact at the EA said that if the lender is happy I should be however every lender has different criteria.

When they done the survey they checked the neighbours garden and there was none there. only 3 plants on this site where the drive is now. The biggest being 0.9m.

Apparently the property was discounted 3 times before I made an offer of the asking price. Where I live it's a good price compared and tbh there aren't many options available for htb in the area I live or surrounding areas for my budget. My next option is to buy a cheaper, older property with higher interest as i wont have the equity loan as a deposit.

Anyway, lots to think about but I'm going to take one step at a time.

Before I consider pulling out as a last resort I would probably make a cheeky offer of £170,000 but I'll think about that if it comes to it. I'm using htb so changing all the figures in all the different places would be a nightmare so it really would be a last resort

First step - Wait to see what my lender and solicitor comes back with  then go from there.

Thanks

Slithery

You're over-thinking all of this.
It's not a problem and if I were in your shoes I'd just carry on with my original offer without bothering to ask any of the questions you've just posted.

samps1973

Yeah I do tend to overthink things 🙂

It's just with so much money involved and the possibility of being stuck in the same home without being to sell is quite worrying. The last thing I really want is to walk away but I just need to know I'm doing the right thing. 

I think I need to hold my faith in the lender, if they think the risk is small enough  so should I and vice versa.

I'd rather have a wobble now instead of wobbling after I've signed the contract when it's too late.

Either way I expect the lender will give an explanation and hopefully my solicitor will give me a few tips too.

Thanks all 👍