Japanese knotweed and selling a house

I suspect because it is so hard to sell a house affected by Japanese knotwood that, while not covering it up, the vendors are not falling over themselves to tell your son about it, so putting it on the forms and leaving it at that. It is probable that they did not tell the estate agent about it either.

A home buyers survey will only cover the structure of the house, not anything in the garden unless it is likely to effect the structural integrity of the house.

Did he not visit the house once or twice and see the garden?

Fleurpepper

Did he not visit the house once or twice and see the garden?

Perhaps they had cut it down before visits by prospective purchasers.

Some fairly new houses near here had Japanese knotweed growing just outside the houses and garages but it wasn't there when they were viewed.
It has been eradicated by repeated treatment.

Monica, do you have real evidence of this 'A home buyers survey will only cover the structure of the house, not anything in the garden unless it is likely to effect the structural integrity of the house.'

Because that is the very point of Japanese Knotweed, it does affect the structure of the house and other buildings like garages, drives, etc. Surely a surveyor should be trained to spot JNW, even if it has been cut. I have no qualifications but can spot it immediately.

This site looks really useful and discuss exactly this eventuality

www.knotweedhelp.com/japanese-knotweed-law/surveyor-missed-knotweed/

and yes, a surveyor should spot it and report on it.

Really nasty stuff - and can be a major, expensive ongoing problem. I'd want a guarantee of eradication - or I'd simply walk away from that property.

Yes, I would insist on quotes to eradicate, and ask for the seller to agree to reduce the price to cover.

Fleurpepper Japanese knotwood can be present but not necessarily near the house, I think it can be that land adjacent to the property, ie neighbours gardens are effected means that no surveyor could know about it.

I am a bit cynical about surveys. Surveyors only talk about what they see. I am sure yu have had surveyors like those we have received that say 'Renew wiring' if necessary, or in our case 'replace hotwater tank, if required'. So I cannot see them going looking for Japanese Knotweed.

However, one of the house purchase questionnaires has the relevant question so, having seen the answer, the prospective purchaser could ask the surveyor to look for it, but again I suspect the surveyor would tell you to get a plant expert in. They are not plant experts and would need to protect themselves in case they confuse a similar looking plant with JKW, or confuse JKW with another plant.

MOnica is correct - a home buyer’s report, the cheapest form of survey, does not extend to the garden. A more comprehensive survey would have done so. The sellers declared the problem when they had to - they were under no obligation to do so earlier. The JK will have to be professionally removed but it may emanate from adjoining premises and return. Obtaining a mortgage may be difficult. Personally, I would walk away.

Perhaps Sapphire could clairfy where the knotweed is present, and if close enough to affect house or other building's foundation, pipework, etc. The buyer could easily say that the cost of removal has to be quoted for, and taken off the agreed price.

RICS qualified surveyors are trained to recognise Japanese knotweed and should report on it.

It entirely comes down to the level of survey you commission. The Home Buyer’s Report is the cheapest and least comprehensive. The report will explain its parameters.

Thankyou all for your comments. I don't know anything about where the knotweed is, other than its stated on the TA6 form. My husband and I went for an external view of the property some weeks ago and didn't spot anything untoward, except a large tree and whether the roots could affect the drains. I just feel a bit annoyed that my son has paid out already on searches etc and it's only come to light now about the knotweed. My son is having a mortgage, which could now be in jeopardy due to the knotweed. I'll report back when he's spoken to his solicitor. Thanks to everyone so far, you've been a big help. 😊

As others have said a house buyer's survey is just to to confirm the value of the property. We were advised to have a full building survey once our offer had been accepted which we did and the building society did not charge for their survey as we let them have sight of our independent survey.

I lost a couple of thousand on a house purchase. I paid for a top level survey and also started the solicitor process but it was money very well spent and in hindsight has saved me very much more. There were several things on that survey that I had never noticed and which would not have been flagged up by a basic survey. Japanese knotweed was not not there but had it been, even if the only red flag, I would have pulled out.

DH is a marine surveyor and has found these skills transferrable! We are also old house renovators and like Karmalady we commission detailed surveys, when we are uneasy.

We once commissioned a partial structural survey when a house we were looking at was being sold with a known structural problem. After the survey we proceeded to offer for it because we had the measure of the problem. Unfortunately we were outbid. Another we commissioned a full survey on because we could see a lot of problems, but had a feeling that there were many other, possibly expensive, problems. The survey proved that our gut feeling was right and we backed away.

Our current house we looked round and were confident there was nothing wrong with it, beyond the surface, so didn't get any survey beyond the compulsory Home Buyer's Survey. We were right, we have lived here 26 years without any major problem, which considering that the house is 450 years old, is pretty good.

I have met up with knotweed a couple of times but not in a house we had bought.
Firstly you only see it between April and October as the rest of the year it dies down.
You can control it with weedkiller,glyphosate see RHS.
also you can get professional controllers and take out contract for? 10 years.
If I really wanted the house would use it to bring down the price, and then keep it under control.
Not worth panicking about really.

It certainly is worth panicking about. Try selling your house to some who needs a mortgage if you have JK. I have never bought a house without considering how easy it would be to sell.

A factory/workshop near here was converted into flats - along with parking and a communal garden. I honestly thought that it must be some underground parking, below garden level - or a massive swimming pool being constructed. Large lorry loads of earth were taken away, day after day, as they dug down.

Eventually, the whole area was lined with some blue material and then it was being filled in with gravel and new earth. I asked a workman what they were doing - 'Japanese Knotweed' he replied.

loopyloo

I have met up with knotweed a couple of times but not in a house we had bought.
Firstly you only see it between April and October as the rest of the year it dies down.
You can control it with weedkiller,glyphosate see RHS.
also you can get professional controllers and take out contract for? 10 years.
If I really wanted the house would use it to bring down the price, and then keep it under control.
Not worth panicking about really.

I don't care what the RHS says, you can't control it with weedkiller, it laughs at it.

A place I volunteered at had a largish patch in its grounds. It was weed killered, burnt, had diesel poured down its stems, bonfires built on top of it... it took about 6 years to eradicate it... It is truly evil stuff and spreads very easily.

I wouldn't touch a house if the knotweed was in a place where I couldn't get it professionally removed. If it is accessible for removal I would ask for a price reduction to cover the cost of having it professionally done.

PS apparently you can eat the young shoots...

Well, yes it is fireproof, grows round volcanoes in Japan.
And yes getting it professionally dealt with is best. They are allowed to use stronger weedkiller and use it at the best time of year. July August so it gets taken back into the roots.

Most buyers won’t pay for a full survey so what they get is a report with so many caveats, it’s meaningless, often highlighting work that does not need doing, instead of investigating further.

When selling a house you have to complete a form which is provided by the solicitor handling the conveyance and on that form there is a question about Japanese knotweed. However, it asks whether there has been any incidence of this and gives the opportunity to say Don't Know as well as Yes or No. Your son should ask hq1is solicitor who will be in receipt of that form what it actually says on it. If it says that there has been an incidence and the solicitor didn't alert him to it before moving forward then the solicitor is at fault. If the vendor didn't declare that there had been work done at the property for this but it now emerges that there has then the vendor can be sued.

loopyloo

I have met up with knotweed a couple of times but not in a house we had bought.
Firstly you only see it between April and October as the rest of the year it dies down.
You can control it with weedkiller,glyphosate see RHS.
also you can get professional controllers and take out contract for? 10 years.
If I really wanted the house would use it to bring down the price, and then keep it under control.
Not worth panicking about really.

We found knotweed in our last garden, it was growing through from the electrical sub-station next door. We notified the elecricity board and they got a professional contractor in to deal with it, it never reappeared.
I think that people get obsessed, it's possible eradicate it but I guess it would be harder if it had got a real hold on a garden. However in that case it would be visibly very obvious.