Japanese Knotweed – Terror in the back garden!

Japanese knotweed is becoming more prolific and is turning up in more and more places. 

The presence of Japanese knotweed on your property and land could potentially reduce the capital value of a property by up to 30%. 

Japanese knotweed can be difficult to identify.  Over the last 12 months, we have identified the presence of Japanese knotweed at two properties where we were carrying out Home Condition Reports.  Subsequently, as required, we reported the find back to the potential purchasers.  In one case this resulted in the purchaser withdrawing due to severe infestation and the difficulty in being able to treat the affected area satisfactorily over the suggested treatment plan of 10 years.  The other property allowed the purchaser to obtain the correct advice from Japanese knotweed specialists regarding the treatment and eradication of the knotweed and resulting in a renegotiation of the purchase price.   

At Armitstead Barnett, we carry out Home Condition Reports for purchasing purposes.  This entails a detailed inspection of the property, photographs and a detailed explanation of the cause and remediation of the identified issues/defects and then relates this back to the capital value of the property.