Potential new home with Japanese Knotweed

[Trig]

Ive had a look on google, but opinions are varied and usually seem a bit dramatic. I dont have any experience of it at all,so i dont know.


I should say absolutly nothing is in progress, not even seen the property in person. I was just doing my usual browsing online looking for a house when i saw one that looked pretty good, going by the pictures.
Unfortuantly at the bottom it mentions, Available for cash sale only due to presence of Japanese knotweed on banking at front.
From the looks of it on the map/photo theres maybe 10 metres or so at front of house to top of banking which then drops down into a burn. I cant see the weed,or know how much of it there is, but its that banking im assuming that it is on.

From what im reading, including potential damage to your own house, you can also be liable for fines etc if it spreads to other properties.
The nearest property is a good stretch downstream,but apparently the plant doesnt spread by seed, so does this mean there is little or no chance of it spreading down the water, or can it still spread somehow? Spreading down the water, if possible, would be the biggest risk in this case i think.

Id imagine its hard to say without even having seen it with your own eyes, but basically what im wondering/asking is whether its crazy to even consider buying a property like this with knotweed on it. (This seems to be a common opinion from what ive read so far). Or is the threat exaggerated?

 

[nephilim]

I paid a few thousand to have it removed from my house and have a portion of the foundation repaired as it penetrated the foundation and rooted. Turned out a neighbour 2 doors down had it start in his garden and didn't tell anyone. And it spreads over and under ground like a beast. Not sure how it started in his garden but the professional tracked the roots and such back to his property and no further.

Thankfully the house insurance reimbursed us, but the neighbour was slapped with a fine, and we ended up having about 10% of our house value stripped because of the fact it had been there in the past. The HIP report was brutal.

This was 2007 before moving to my current house. If I even get a whiff of it, home insurance is called, and neighbours notified immediately.

If you decide to get the house, car in professionals to get it removed.

 

[Drain Bamaged]

It 'CAN' be an absolute nightmare to get rid of and tends to be a bit like an iceberg, with more under the ground than on the surface, it is not impossible to get rid of but it is certainly not easy or cheap, it can be extremely damaging to the extent that a lot of people have had difficulties and even found it impossible to get insurance simply because it's growing on either theirs or neighbouring property. It would definitely be well worth your while to think carefully and seek further advice before jumping in for what may not be quite the bargain it first appears.....it does not need seed to spread it does so by runners (and when it comes to running it could leave Linford Christie standing) it also only needs the tiniest piece of root broken off to re-root and start a new clump so digging it out is not often successful. With water running near by a piece of root falling into the water and floating off downstream is one way it can get onto another property and if you look along some river banks and canals you will see that this happens all to easily...... On the bright side though, it does taste nice.

D.B.

 

[Trig]

Thanks nephilim,sounds pretty terrible.Knowing what you know now and what you went through, would it put you off buying a property that you know has it already?

Definitly worth thinking about before going further,Drain. Just trying to gather more info to see whether its worth thinking about at all

With water running near by a piece of root falling into the water and floating off downstream is one way it can get onto another property and if you look along some river banks and canals you will see that this happens all to easily...... On the bright side though, it does taste nice.

This would be my main concern. Has the potential to spread to several properties downstream, if it hasnt already. Im thinking thats a bigger risk than id like to take.

 

[Zingmo]

JKW should be picked up on a survey and you should allow for the cost of professional eradication just as if there was a structural problem with the house. It spreads through pieces of the plant or roots breaking off, so the soil from the area has to be treated as hazardous waste. I was told that a piece the size of a fingernail could start a whole new plant.
It can be eradicated with weedkillers, but the treatment has to continue until it has all gone, which might take several years.

Z

 

[nephilim]

Yes. The costs of removal aren't cheap. I'd actively avoid it, even if the property was 50% cheaper.

Getting insurance on a house and knowing it's there is near impossible. And once the insurers do know and work to help removal, your premium goes through the roof. My premium tripled after getting it removed because of the potential for it to come back. Seriously not worth the hassle.

 

[Drain Bamaged]

I spotted a very small clump early one spring on a local canal, it actually looked from the next peg 20 metres away like a single clump of daffodils (minus the flower). I reported it to the bailiff who decided he could get rid of it by hitting it with a strimmer and spraying it with weedkiller……the same time the following year the clump when it started to come up after the winter was probably 20’ square and surrounded by quite a lot of new daffodil size clumps….the proper people were now called in to do their job at great expense, by the third year it was coming up on the opposite bank of the canal having sent runners under the water which is 10’ deep and the canal is 30 metres wide. It had managed to cover that distance despite the fact that it was at the time being treated with poisons, strimmers, axes, blowlamps on a very regular basis by the experts.

DB

 

[nephilim]

This is why my old house cost several thousand to get rid of. If I remember rightly it was around £8000 to remove, from my property alone. My neighbours faced a similar cost each.

The ground was dug out to about 6ft deep in the whole garden, all traces removed, foundations repaired (another £2000ish), then new soil on top. We got the house valued and sold up. We decided the loss on value was worth moving to nit deal with it again.

Took around 3 months to rid my garden, of all traces...and it was not easy for them to remove the soil etc as it was poor access to the garden

 

[woodstock]

Some friends bought a house with knotweed about 20mts away in a hedgerow they were given a 3 year plan by the insurance company to get rid of it otherwise the building ins. would cease

 

[Trig]

Alright, thanks for the replys. Probably not gonna bother even going any further. From looking at blogs/pics on google, a woodland path starts just by the house, so from the front wall to the banking is actually not part of the property. Also found better pictures and there is a forest of the stuff growing on the banking. But its pretty close to the building itself.
Not sure if its better that it seems its on public land rather than the properties, as then others are responsible for getting rid of it, but from what ive read that could be more hassle than its worth itself. Nevermind the other problems related to it.

 

[nephilim]

If it's on public property...inform the council. They'll get some people to get rid of it.

 

[Toddy]

Good luck doing that.

With the spending restraints imposed by Westminster our local council will basically not do anything about JKW on their land except progress with the development of a 'strategy'.
Builders must comply with all legislation, and so must houseowners, but the decision is that the knotweed is, from 2013 until 2019 covered by the following….

"Proposed Strategy .
The Invasive Species Strategy is in an early stage of development. However, key objectives can be set out asfollows:
Objective 1: To ensure compliance with relevant legislation and manage the Council's liabilities.
.Objective 2: To establish a comprehensive, regularly updated database of the distribution of priority invasive, non-native species in South Lanarkshire.
Objective 3: To minimise and manage the negative impact of established invasive, non-native species in a cost effective manner.
Objective 4: To provide information and guidance to Council staff, developers,householders and other stakeholders on minimising the negative impacts of invasive, non-native species. ·"

So, until September 2019, they're only recording non native species while waffling nicely about their work on an action plan to deal with things…..when they finally have money to do so.

The Invasive Species Strategy will set out how the Council and its partners will deal with invasive alien species in South Lanarkshire. It is intended to inform and guide action across the Council and with other public and private land managers, developers and private householders..
It is anticipated that the Strategy will have significant, long term, positive effects on the environment in the immediate South Lanarkshire area and potentially further afield. There is scope to enhance these effects by integration, within existing and future South Lanarkshire Council and partnership plans, policies and strategies and national initiatives. "

Local builders across the burn from us have put up blocks of flats, they cleared a patch of JKW from their bit of land, and paid to have it the rest of the clump cleared that was on land that's council owned. They billed the council for that, but have been told that since it wasn't agreed with the council beforehand they won't be reimbursed.


So, basically, if you have a JKW problem then it's up to you to deal with it. The council won't, at present, because they don't have the money to do so.

Properties are being sold at under value by the cost of having the JKW removed by specialist companies who will provide guarantees, etc., that will make the property acceptable for mortgages and insurance.

M

 

[nephilim]

That's madness. Central Bedfordshire Council are in within a month to deal with it. If it's council land anyway. If it starts on council land and encroaches on to private property you can send the bill to them too.

 

[British Red]

Its a matter of priorities nephilim - the same as all other council expenditure. Sounds like it isn't a priority in Lanarkshire.

Different councils, different politics, different policies

 

[nephilim]

Good point.

 

[Toddy]

We have enough problems managing to keep centres for disabled folks open, JKW is low priority, especially when the onus can be neatly landed onto builders and house owners. £51 million more cut from the council's budget in December.

I spoke to a Ranger about it; she said apply the poison paste that is absorbed and drawn back along the stems to the roots, and do it on every stem you see coming up in Spring. Do not break it up. It ultimately cannot survive without sunlight, so killing all of the tops, in situ, is the best advice they can offer. The roots will die without any feeding, but it takes three or four years of no growing tops to be absolutely certain. It takes time and it takes diligence and vigilance, but it's very do-able. You just have to make sure that every stem is poisoned.

RHS says do it later in the year, but the Ranger said that by then the roots are being fed by the top growth
https://www.rhs.org.uk/advice/profile?pid=218

Doesn't help for those trying to sell, or find a mortgage or insurance though; those providers demand commercial guarantees.
It's not actually illegal to have the stuff growing in your garden.

M