Japanese knotweed is no respecter of boundaries. It is a common issue amongst neighbours, when one party refuses or is unwilling to treat their Japanese knotweed, and it starts to invade a new property.

In our experience, once you have mature Japanese knotweed on one side of a boundary the likelihood is that the rhizomes have already spread into the previously untreated garden. The question is what can you do in the event that this is happening?

The Law.
The principle law relating to Japanese knotweed is covered by the Wildlife & Countryside Act (1981). The relevant quotation is:
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There are some things that you discover in life, that just don’t mix or shouldn’t be put together – oil and water; politicians and your money…they either don’t mix or mix a bit too well!

Unfortunately the same is often true of Japanese knotweed and mortgages. Some banks and Building Societies hear the words Japanese knotweed and refuse to lend money on that property. Essentially they won’t take the risk. We have seen this scenario with a number of properties in the last 12 months; even where the knotweed is 30m or more from the buildings (possibly on a neighbour’s land) and poses no significant risk whatsoever to the property’s structural integrity. Sales fall through on this point. Yet normally there is no/little risk for the mortgage company, the main issues that they are concerned about are obviously damage to the asset and implications on the subsequent re-sale of the property (if the house is repossessed). However it is often an overreaction by the mortgage company, as a simple herbicide programme will manage the knotweed and for little relative expense eradicate it completely over a number of years. For more money, we could excavate the knotweed and remove it from site completely; however this is not always necessary and is costly and is not the best solution when considering the environment.
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