I had a bit of casework from an adjoining ward about Japanese Knotweed. This is an extremely invasive plant that tends to kill off other growth and damage buildings. As it has no natural enemies in the UK, it has spread and spread. Getting rid of it is either very expensive, or very time consuming (or both).
The casework concerned a householder who was about to exchange contracts, when the deal fell through. The reason? The buyer mortgage lender refused to lend because there was knotweed in a nearby garden. This is apparently now standard practice for two of our major mortgage lenders. It leaves the seller in an impossible position, because they can't go and dig up someone else's garden. If the owner doesn't get rid of the knotweed voluntarily, the only option is a civil action for nuisance which is enormously expensive and time consuming. As far as I know, there is no caselaw on whether an action has ever been successful for the removal of Japanese knotweed.
1 comment:
It's a tricky place to be in, it's often far easier to deal with it on a large site and just bury the whole problem (quite litterally).
The best solution though is probably to talk to the neighbors in the area, make them understand the issues knotweed could pose and I find it unlikely that people will choose to ignore it once they realise it makes their house unsellable and possibly even derelict if left unchecked long enough.
Of course it probably wont be a quick fix due to the tenacious nature of knotweed, but the longer the problem is left, the harder it will be to get rid of.
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