Japanese knotweed - is it as bad of a nightmare as people say it is?

user1977

Blank11 said:

I was talking to my friends and family about the flat and they said to avoid even when I said there is a treatment plan in place. Looking online a lot of people are saying they’d avoid unless there was a reduction so I was basing it from my friends and family opinion along with checking online out. 

What costs are you actually worried about though? Do the sums.

And are you paying as much attention to other, much more significant, possible costs?

Blank11

A lot of buyers will be put off with the mention of Japanese knotweed so it could take longer to sell or leading to requiring a reduction in price. 

There is also the concern that what happens after 10 year guarantee expires, would you need to continue to keep watch and have specialist visit every year. 

tooldle

If the knotweed is within your property, keep watch and treat if you see new growth. The property we now own has previously had knotweed. It certainly did not put us off. It really isn’t the scourge it is made out to be. To me  the misconceptions are on a parallel to thinking fixed subsidence / underpinning is a bad thing.
I live in a city that like many other UK cities, has knotweed infestations in many public spaces. It doesn’t seem to stop properties selling and our city has experienced house price growth in the top ten for the UK. 

https://www.knotweedhelp.com/japanese-knotweed-uk-map-how-close-is-it-to-your-home/#:~:text=The%20plant%20is%20frequently%20found,been%20abandoned%20or%20left%20unattended. To give some context, view the map on this website and then ask yourself if you’ve noticed the housing market collapsing in these areas?

Editng to add, the accompanying narrative is a bit scary but then they are touting for business. 

user1977

Blank11 said:

A lot of buyers will be put off with the mention of Japanese knotweed 

Are they though? You said at the start that you've already checked out recent sales in the same development?

Blank11

tooldle said:

If the knotweed is within your property, keep watch and treat if you see new growth. The property we now own has previously had knotweed. It certainly did not put us off. It really isn’t the scourge it is made out to be. To me  the misconceptions are on a parallel to thinking fixed subsidence / underpinning is a bad thing.
I live in a city that like many other UK cities, has knotweed infestations in many public spaces. It doesn’t seem to stop properties selling and our city has experienced house price growth in the top ten for the UK. 

https://www.knotweedhelp.com/japanese-knotweed-uk-map-how-close-is-it-to-your-home/#:~:text=The%20plant%20is%20frequently%20found,been%20abandoned%20or%20left%20unattended. To give some context, view the map on this website and then ask yourself if you’ve noticed the housing market collapsing in these areas?

Editng to add, the accompanying narrative is a bit scary but then they are touting for business. 

Did you buy at market price or asked for a reduction based on Japanese knotweed? I am Scotland based and do not see many Japanese knotweed about in my area so I am assuming places that have more Japanese knotweed will be seen as more common so won’t be as phased about it. Not sure if the map only covers England or Scotland doesn’t have as much Japanese knotweed hotspot compared to England? The link does mention it can depreciate the value of a property!

I am honestly happy to be proven wrong on my worries and my friends and family on future saleability and scaring buyers away because I do like the area but it is next to the railway so I do also worry if Japanese knotweed can be completely eradicated. 

Also from your experience, is there anything I should ask or expect in relation to the Japanese knotweed and it’s treatment plan etc.?

Blank11

user1977 said:

Blank11 said:

A lot of buyers will be put off with the mention of Japanese knotweed 

Are they though? You said at the start that you've already checked out recent sales in the same development?

Treatment plan is in place and starting soon. I’ve checked previous home reports from a few months ago to last year and none mentioned Japanese knotweed. It has only been two that came on this week that mentions the Japanese knotweed so it is hard to know whether sales will be affected. 

user1977

Blank11 said:

user1977 said:

Blank11 said:

A lot of buyers will be put off with the mention of Japanese knotweed 

Are they though? You said at the start that you've already checked out recent sales in the same development?

Treatment plan is in place and starting soon. I’ve checked previous home reports from a few months ago to last year and none mentioned Japanese knotweed. It has only been two that came on this week that mentions the Japanese knotweed so it is hard to know whether sales will be affected. 

Even if not mentioned in the Home Reports, it would have come up in the information from the factors during the course of the sales (assuming the JK had been identified by then).

tooldle

@Bank11, we did not ask for any reduction in price. In reality we got an absolute bargain as the building and land required significant work/renovation. The knotweed was already known to us and was declared on the paperwork.
I’m sure another poster linked to the revised information from RCIS https://www.rics.org/content/dam/ricsglobal/documents/standards/Japanese%20knotweed_October%202022.pdf
There is a section towards the end of the document on valuations. I’d recommend reading the report in full. It is clearly stated the risk posed by JK is not as commonly believed.

km1500

I would only add that they did not go to the trouble of adding a specific JK question to the pre-contract enquiries simply because they had nothing better to do. It is there for a reason.

Eldi_Dos

saucer said:

I don’t like putting a link to the Sun, but to illustrate a point https://www.thesun.co.uk/news/22548283/warning-over-plant-worse-than-japanese-knotweed/#:~:text=Buddleia%20is%20amazingly%20prolific%20at,extend%20several%20metres%20across%20land.  Buddleia is the new knotweed. I have planted that in my garden. So much nonsense:-)

Buddleia if it gets into the masonry of city buildings can be hard to get rid of and can leave coping stones etc unstable .
Cannot say I have ever heard of JK being a problem in a cityscape.