"RICS’ guidance was a positive step forward but the recent court cases will have done nothing to ease the anxiety of those buyers and sellers unlucky enough to encounter the weed"
The words ‘Japanese Knotweed’ are a sure way to strike fear into any homeowner - especially one that is looking to sell their property.
The invasive weed has hit the headlines again recently following a string of high-profile court cases.
One such case was that of homeowner, Marc Davies, who sued Bridgend County Borough Council in South Wales when the notorious weed spread from a council-owned cycle track behind his house into his back garden.
He was awarded £4,900 in damages after he successfully argued the presence of the weed – even once treated – had damaged the value of his property as it prevented him from landscaping, putting up a shed or building in the garden.
At the start of the year a judge also ruled in favor of South-West London homeowner, Jonathan Downing, who successfully sued the former owner of his property for not disclosing the presence of the weed in the garden.
The property’s previous owner, Jeremy Henderson, had answered ‘no’ on the property information TA6 form when asked if his home had been affected by Japanese Knotweed. He claimed not to have known of its presence behind the shed at the bottom of his former garden.
He now faces up to £200k in legal costs after a judge ruled he had made a misrepresentation when he stated in the property forms that there was 'no' knotweed affecting the property – when he could have answered 'yes' or 'not known'.
While the weed can be extremely stubborn and costly to remove, a lot of the concern surrounding Japanese Knotweed typically stems from the fear of what structural damage it can cause, rather than any damage it has actually done.
Last March the Royal Institution of Chartered Surveyors (RICS) updated its guidance for surveyors on the risk the weed poses to a property and its value, advising a less cautious approach.
Under the old guidance - which dated back to 2012 - any Japanese Knotweed detected within seven metres of a property made it more or less unmortgageable.
In light of increased scientific evidence and knowledge around how the weed can impact the structure of a property, the seven metre rule was deemed to be over cautious and scrapped last year.
A 2019 report from the House of Commons Science & Technology Committee found the physical damage to property from the weed was no greater than that of other disruptive plants and trees that are not subject to the same controls and do not have such a detrimental effect on the sale of a property.
In light of the evidence, RICS introduced new ‘management categories’, which lowered the potential danger zone from seven to three metres.
The new management categories range from A-D, with A being the most serious. When a property falls within A or B, most mortgage lenders are expected to impose retentions on mortgage offers pending receipt of a remediation specialist's report, suggests RICS.
Whereas categories C and D generally mean no retention will be imposed because the presence of the weed has not caused material damage to a structure and is not affecting access to, or use of, amenity space.
The updated guidelines offer some welcome clarification for surveyors and lenders in terms of what material risk the weed poses. Of course, the stigma attached to Japanese Knotweed is still ever-present and even with the guidance there are lenders that err on the side of caution when it comes to lending on such properties.
RICS’ guidance was a positive step forward but the recent court cases will have done nothing to ease the anxiety of those buyers and sellers unlucky enough to encounter the weed - which is estimated to affect between 4-5% of UK homes.
The outcomes from both the recent landmark cases could lead to further claims and it will be interesting to see if more legal action surrounding Japanese Knotweed is on its way.
