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

Blank11

tooldle said:

@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 commonly believed.

Thanks I did give it a read (the whole document) and very interesting how they are preferring going for managing JK and keeping it under control measure than complete eradication. To be honest I’d rather eradication.

The last section is helpful as that is my main concern with smaller pool of buyers and future saleability - but seems even they recognise it could still be an issue if there are other properties without JK vs ones with JK in the same area. I guess I won’t need to worry too much as I am planning to stay there for 5+ years. 

MultiFuelBurner

Doesn't sound like this is the property for you anymore.

No one can get into your mind and work out the monterey value that would make you happy to purchase.

user1977

Blank11 said:

tooldle said:

@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 commonly believed.

Thanks I did give it a read (the whole document) and very interesting how they are preferring going for managing JK and keeping it under control measure than complete eradication. To be honest I’d rather eradication.

The last section is helpful as that is my main concern with smaller pool of buyers and future saleability - but seems even they recognise it could still be an issue if there are other properties without JK vs ones with JK in the same area. I guess I won’t need to worry too much as I am planning to stay there for 5+ years. 

I would say the RICS info assumes you're paying the entire costs - it doesn't really address what the effect (if any) is where you're only responsible for a small fraction of the costs - there's a big difference between paying (say) £3000 or £90.

tooldle

Thanks I did give it a read (the whole document) and very interesting how they are preferring going for managing JK and keeping it under control measure than complete eradication. To be honest I’d rather eradication.

The last section is helpful as that is my main concern with smaller pool of buyers and future saleability - but seems even they recognise it could still be an issue if there are other properties without JK vs ones with JK in the same area. I guess I won’t need to worry too much as I am planning to stay there for 5+ years. 

The research I linked to earlier (largest field trial in world) concluded management to be better than eradication. Given knotweed’s hold on the UK it is very unlikely eradication could be a permanent solution. We are talking after all about a plant.

Eldi_Dos

Wonder how the Japanese deal with JK.

Did read that there are millions of empty houses in rural Japan due to changing demographics.

robatwork

In 2 minutes I can walk over 200m. I wouldn't be worried about knotweed, bindweed, weeeeeeed from Bill & Ben or gangaweed 200m away. 

elsien

Eldi_Dos said:

Wonder how the Japanese deal with JK.

Did read that there are millions of empty houses in rural Japan due to changing demographics.

It’s not a problem in Japan. The volcanic terrain where it normally grows means that it’s a lot smaller than here because of the poor quality soil. Plus it competes with other plant species and it has natural predators which it doesn’t have over here. 

Blank11

I read they were trialling bringing in a bug called Aphalara itadori to control the Japanese knotweed but that was more than a few years ago. From results it couldn’t cope with our climate and weather. It would be great if we had something to naturally deal with it. Then again bringing something new might cause a new issue. 

Blank11

I had spoken to a few neighbours that moved in recently (few months ago as the most recent) and they never heard anything about Japanese knotweed throughout the process. They would have asked for a price reduction if they knew so it is giving me some food for thought. 

user1977

Blank11 said:

I had spoken to a few neighbours that moved in recently (few months ago as the most recent) and they never heard anything about Japanese knotweed throughout the process. They would have asked for a price reduction if they knew so it is giving me some food for thought. 

Have they told you what the costs are?