We all know that Japanese knotweed can be pretty destructive, especially if it’s allowed to grow out of control and invade the landscaping of neighbouring properties. But how much does this invasive species affect property values in general? And why does it have such an impact on home valuations? Let’s take a look at how Japanese knotweed devalues property and how to deal with it in your own backyard.

What is Japanese Knotweed?

Japanese knotweed is a type of weed that can have negative effects on land, property and surrounding areas. The weed spreads quickly and can even damage properties in which it grows. It’s important to understand how Japanese knotweed will devalue your home before you decide to purchase a new home with it on.

Japanese knotweed (Reynoutria japonica) has been dubbed the worst weed in the UK by the Royal Horticultural Society, owing to its tenacity and the difficulty of eradicating it once it takes hold in a garden or property. Not only does it pose an aesthetic problem, but it’s also responsible for devaluation of properties when real estate prices are assessed to factor in its presence as either a potential risk or actual threat to nearby homes and buildings. This article explores how Japanese knotweed causes property devaluation and what can be done about it…

Signs of Japanese knotweed

Japanese Knotweed is quite distinctive and easily recognised once you’ve seen it once, you can pretty much identify it at all times. Knotweed has a distinctive rounded heart shaped leaf and thick stems that typically grow 6 inches per day in the UK throughout the summer.

You can check our Gallery through the seasons to see what the invasive weed looks like all year round:

https://japaneseknotweedagency.co.uk/jkw-gallery/

Why it’s important to get rid of it

Although knotweed can’t cause any direct harm to your health, you may want to keep it away from your home if you care about how much your house is worth. According to a study published in 2013 by Nottingham Trent University, knotweed infestations can reduce a property’s value by as much as 15 percent. Depending on the size of the infestation and its proximity to buildings, it could render a property unsellable.

Knotweed will only keep growing and spreading so to ignore it could be extremely detrimental to your property and your pocket. If you allow Knotweed to spread from your land to a neighbour’s land or into the wild, it is a criminal offence and can carry a heavy fine and you could also end up with a claim against you which could run into tens of thousands.

How to get rid of it

Because Japanese knotweed can be difficult to control, chemical treatment will be necessary. Several specialist herbicides are available that work well with Japanese knotweed, such as glyphosate (Roundup), triclopyr (Weedol), imazapyr (Pursuit) and aminopyralid (Milestone). These are systemic herbicides, meaning they need to be taken up through plant roots or stems to have an effect; cutting them down will not help. A specialist treatment firm knows how to do this properly and it usually takes a visit every 3 months for 3 years to get a full treatment delivered.

An Actionable to Do List

First thing is getting your Knotweed formally identified by the Japanese Knotweed Agency, and where positive, request a FREE Onsite Survey and you’ll get a full report to show the locations of the crowns, age, route of growth, lots more information and a quote for a treatment plan that comes with an Insurance Backed Guarantee.

https://japaneseknotweedagency.co.uk/free-japanese-knotweed-survey/

If you’ve found Japanese knotweed growing on your property and don’t want it there, you may need to take legal action against the owner of the land where it has grown. This guide will teach you how to claim Japanese knotweed as trespass, so you can get your property back to full health and full value.

What is knotweed?

Knotweed or Japanese Knotweed is an invasive plant species which was brought to the UK in the early 1900’s as a decorative plant, unbeknown that it spreads like wildfire and can cause damage to property and amenities. Knotweed ryzomes (root system) and root growth can grow vigorous and can even grow through tarmac, concrete, water pipes, sewer pipes and can get into property foundations and cause havoc.

Knotweed can grow up to 8 inches a day in the summer and grow as tall as 12 feet high. The stems grow thick like bamboo and small stems grow from the main stems and grow a thick bush of leaves and even flowers through August and September.

What does trespassing mean?

If something from another person or property comes on to your property or land without your knowledge or consent, that is considered to be trespass. The fact that Knotweed has come from another parties land on to yours, and causes devaluation and other problems and can cost you money to put right, this is a recoverable trespass issue.

What are the options to resolve this issue?

If Knotweed is coming from a neighbour, the best approach in our opinion is to speak with your neighbour and try and get an amicable solution between you both. A survey and treatment plan with an Insurance Backed Guarantee will ultimately help both of you. If the Knotweed can be seen to be coming from your neighbour to your land quite obviously, your neighbour may agree to pick up all the costs. This is something hopefully as neighbours you can sort out.

If your neighbour doesn’t listen to your friendly request, you should put it in writing and allow them a small amount of time to get some resolve. Knotweed will only grow and spread if it is left and that will be worse for everyone.

If the Knotweed is coming from a commercial neighbour like the railway or council land or a commercial enterprise, report it formally so you have a record. Many times we see that although reported, the commercial entity doesn’t take it seriously enough or carry out proper treatment, then the problem again will only worsen.

The fact that Knotweed will not go away on its own, and a typical treatment plan with an Insurance Backed Guarantee can cost a few thousand pounds, you need to ask yourself should you pay for it if the neighbour is at fault? Then you need to think about any damage to your property and any devaluation because of the presence of Knotweed, and ask if you are happy with that or want to take action to protect your own asset.

If you decide to make a claim against the neighbour land owner, you can typically do this on a No Win No Fee. You should be able to recover the full cost of a treatment plan and force your neighbour to treat the Knotweed on their land to ensure it doesn’t come back again. You should also be able to claim the cost of the Insurance Backed Guarantee, and cash compensation for the devaluation of your property because of the presence of Knotweed. This may be an average of 10% of your property value, so a £200K property should start a claim for £20,000 plus treatment plus guarantee and maybe some additional compensation for inconvenience.

Which option should I choose?

The choices are really down to you. As your house and property is usually your biggest asset, it is important that you take this seriously and probably that you seek expert legal support to ensure you are fully protected.

How much will it cost me?

Japanese Knotweed Agency offer a FREE – WITHOUT OBLIGATION On-site Survey anywhere in England & Wales, which will give you all of the information you need to make a decisive way forward. The Survey Report will give you information on where the Knotweed has travelled from, its age, all identified crowns and growth areas, any potential damage caused by the Knotweed, and will also report on up to 58 other invasive weeds if any of those are present.

Your Survey Report will also come with a full quotation for treatment and a 10-year Insurance Backed Guarantee that if any Knotweed comes back after the treatment and within 10-years, it will get treated for free under the guarantee.

The Survey and report are 100% FREE and WITHOUT OBLIGATION

With that information you can then decide how to proceed and whether to move forwards with any legal claim. The options are then yours with detailed information at hand.

Request your FREE Onsite Survey here:

https://japaneseknotweedagency.co.uk/free-japanese-knotweed-survey/

When should I claim Japanese knotweed as trespass?

As above, if you are friends with your neighbour and the Knotweed is coming from their land to yours, it may be best to speak together and try come up with an agreement.

If the neighbour doesn’t take notice or take action, the Knotweed will only get worse week by week, so you shouldn’t wait too long before taking action, whichever route you choose.

According to some reports, homeowners are not aware of their legal responsibility to stop Japanese Knotweed spreading. Only 36% of them know they can be sued and only 18% are aware that they could face criminal prosecution. Japanese knotweed should not be ignored. This page contains information that will help you understand the laws regarding Japanese knotweed.

Japanese Knotweed can grow in the garden of a landowner’s property. He should take every precaution to prevent the invasive weed spreading to neighbouring properties. If this fails, he could be held liable for any damage that was caused by the encroachment. If the knotweed is growing on your property, the landowner could be held responsible.

Give Notice to Your Neighbour

If you want to sue your neighbour, you should give the person or organization responsible for the adjacent land the chance to address the nuisance (knotweed) unless it has been there for quite some time and must be obvious that they are already aware. You should notify your neighbours as soon as possible. Also, make sure you specify what actions you want the landowner to take.

You should ask your neighbour to treat knotweed on their property as well as on theirs. Ideally, the remedy they choose should also include a guarantee. You should also include a description of the possible consequences for them if they ignore the notice. If the knotweed is from commercial land or infrastructure like Council or Network Rail, they are more than likely already aware.

Unreasonable Conduct

A Community Protection Notice (CPN), which can be used under the Act, can be used to order someone to stop or control the growth of Japanese knotweed and other plants that could cause serious problems for communities. The conduct of an individual or body must have a negative effect on the quality or life of others in the area. Section 57 of the Act defines conduct as “a failure to act”. CPNs could be used to force someone to stop or control the growth of Japanese knotweed, or other plants that can cause serious harm to communities.

Fixed Penalty Notice

If an individual or organization isn’t controlling Japanese knotweed, or any other invasive plant, and it could reasonably be expected that they would, the CPN could then be used. A mandatory written warning must be served before the CPN can be used to force them to cease their anti-social behaviour. A community protection notice violation without reasonable excuse would be considered a crime and subject to a fixed penalty. A summary conviction would result in a fine of not more than PS2,500 for an individual. A fine of not more than PS20,000 is possible for an organisation such as a company.

Paramount Knotweed Management Plan

Knotweed is not a reason to deny a mortgage application. Instead, it should be considered on a case-by-case basis. A suitable Knotweed Management Plan must be presented. It can be shocking to discover that your property has knotweed or that your property is infested. However, there are ways to control the infestation. The Knotweed Management Plan is the key.

Legal Rights Against Misrepresentation

Japanese knotweed is a serious problem in the country. The seller must disclose this information to you when buying a house. If the Japanese knotweed is present in a property you’ve purchased, you may sue the seller.

Property value loss

Knotweed infestation can cause property value loss. If a property is found to be infested with Japanese knotweed or Japanese knotweed within 7 metres of the property, it will make it extremely difficult to obtain a mortgage.

A property that is affected by Japanese knotweed loses its value, regardless of whether it is within their boundaries or within 7 metres. This is known as diminution of value. It may be possible to include a claim of diminution in any settlement if you succeed in bringing a Nuisance Claim on a defendant.

Professional Negligence

If you paid for a professional inspection of your property, and the surveyor failed to notice the Japanese knotweed, then you could file a claim for professional negligence against the surveyor. You can file a claim if you can prove that the surveyor should’ve noticed the Japanese knotweed.

The property industry is being hit with problems caused by Japanese knotweed. In just 10 weeks, it can grow 10 cm per day and can reach a height of 3-4 meters. It is illegal for someone to cause or allow the invasive plant spread onto another property.

A new study has shown that the UK has seen an astonishing 28% increase in Japanese knotweed cases in the last five years.

The results of analysing 29,536 confirmed cases of Japanese knotweed in the UK from 49 environmental organizations including National England, Environment Agency and National Trust were reached. The Japanese Knotweed Agency has also started a National Register for England and Wales.

It is extremely difficult to remove the underground roots of this plant. The nationwide treatment of the invasive plant may take up to three decades.

Ask your surveyor to check for Japanese knotweed or other invasive plants when you hire them as a consultant for your new home purchase.

This is particularly important if your property borders an existing or old railway line or is near a river, canal, or stream, Council land or commercial property.

Horticulture conducted a YouGov survey previously to learn more about the plant’s impact on the property market.

According to the YouGov survey, 4/5 of UK homeowners said they wouldn’t buy a house with Japanese knotweed. Just under half of those who said they would still buy the house agreed to lower the price at least 10%.

Many homeowners are not familiar with the plant, according to the survey. The reason is that only half of respondents could identify Japanese knotweed using a selection of photographs.

Questions remain about the government’s response to Japanese knotweed.

A national eradication program was proposed in 2015, but it was rejected by the government due to the staggering £1.5 billion cost.

Due to the current year’s weather, Japanese Knotweed is fast-growing and an invasive plant. This causes homeowners more problems than ever.

Its wet and frosty spring was followed by sunshine and dry weather earlier in the year. Experts are anticipating a rise in Japanese Knotweed incidence, which is already flourishing and growing rapidly.

Buyers and sellers must realise that there is a real possibility of an infestation or evidence of it in their property. This could cause a property to be unable to sell or stop selling.

Japanese Knotweed is a legal requirement for home sellers. The TA6 Property Information Form is used to notify buyers about any negative aspects affecting their home. It also includes a question pertaining Japanese Knotweed.

It is difficult to get a mortgage for a property that has Japanese Knotweed or had it in the past. Many home insurance policies won’t cover Japanese Knotweed. They also won’t cover damage to neighbouring properties or the cost of removing or eliminating the plant.

Japanese Knotweed is classified as a controlled waste under the Environmental Protection Act 1990. It can grow up to 20cm per day. If it is not controlled, its roots can reach deep into foundations and cause damage to walls and drainage systems.

It must be removed and disposed of by an expert. The cost will vary depending on how large the infestation is.

For homeowners, the only way to protect against any damage or remediation caused by Japanese Knotweed in their home is to purchase a Japanese Knotweed-specific insurance policy.