A property expert has urged would-be homeowners not to let the sight of Japanese Knotweed completely put them off buying their dream home.
Surveyor Andrew Kempston-Parkes warned buyers to make sure they do one thing if they do spot the invasive plant when they are looking around a house they like.
Japanese Knotweed is expensive to remove, can grow through walls, and can even stop you from getting a mortgage on your home.
Sellers are legally obliged to inform potential buyers of its presence on their land and often commit to a plan for its removal by a professional company, but they do not have to remove it before handing over the keys.
Mr Kempston-Parkes, director of Kempston-Parkes Chartered Surveyors, suggested insurance-backed guarantees to cover knotweed’s removal are a solution which gives you peace of mind when moving into an infested property.
A property expert has urged would-be homeowners not to let the sight of Japanese Knotweed (pictured) completely put them off buying their dream home
Andrew Kempston-Parkes, Director of Kempston-Parkes Chartered Surveyors, suggested insurance-backed guarantees to cover knotweed’s removal are a solution which gives you peace of mind when moving into an infested property
He said: ‘If a property has Japanese knotweed within seven metres of a building, it can affect its fabric and structure, so you’ll need to look for an insurance-backed treatment programme.’
These programmes mean that even after removal, if the knotweed returns within a set period – usually 10 years – you will not be forking out for the treatment.
And Mr Kempston-Parkes added that the price of treatment has come down in recent years, from around £25,000 for a 10-year programme to £3,000.
As well as the comfort in knowing that your building should be safe from an outbreak of the weed, an insurance-backed guarantee will reassure mortgage lenders too.
This is because the bank knows that even if the original company treating the plant goes bust, the insurer will ensure treatment is continued by another professional company.
Japanese Knotweed tends to devalue properties by around 10 per cent, but can totally destroy a property’s value in the worst cases where the plant is closer to buildings and more entrenched.
Despite all the legal obligations, it is certainly worth knowing what to look out for when it comes to house hunting and knotweed.
This is particularly important in areas where knotweed is most common, which tends to be in big cities. Environet have a knotweed heatmap to help with this.
Knotweed is recognisable due to its thick stems, shovel-shaped leaves, red shoots, small white flowers and orange roots.
It is also freestanding – distinguishing it from the UK’s similar-looking bindweed species.
Mr Kempston-Parkes’ comments follow a Scottish sheriff’s ruling that new homeowners Dr Mairi Donnelly and John Busby in Auchendinny, near Edinburgh, were able to pursue legal action against the previous owners of what they thought would be their dream home, for not owning up to the weed.
It emerged that Mark and Kim Blair knew about the presence of Japanese Knotweed on their £600,000 four-bed house and had even tried and failed to eradicate it before selling up.
But they did not make any mention of the invasive weed – which can grow at a rate of eight inches a day and penetrate concrete – when they sold Firth Lodge in 2021.
Sheriff Christopher Dickson gave permission to Mr Busby and Dr Donnelly to sue, saying the sales contract meant the sellers had to disclose that the property was not affected by matters that could adversely affect it.
The Blairs had instead claimed it was ‘not affected by rot, damp, woodworm or other infestations’.