{"id":5303,"date":"2013-08-01T13:47:23","date_gmt":"2013-08-01T12:47:23","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.propertysurveying.co.uk\/newsletter\/?page_id=5303"},"modified":"2013-08-06T11:28:04","modified_gmt":"2013-08-06T10:28:04","slug":"thousands-of-homebuyers-being-denied-mortgages-due-to-the-ongoing-invasion-of-japanese-knotweed","status":"publish","type":"page","link":"https:\/\/www.propertysurveying.co.uk\/newsletter\/?page_id=5303","title":{"rendered":"Thousands of homebuyers being denied mortgages due to the ongoing invasion of Japanese Knotweed"},"content":{"rendered":"<p><span style=\"color: #000000;\">The ever growing infestation of Japanese Knotweed, which the government believes will cost \u00c2\u00a31.5 billion to clear, is continuing to wreak havoc in the property market. <\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"color: #000000;\">Thousands of homeowners find themselves paying fees of up to \u00c2\u00a320,000 just to remove the weed, whilst many potential homebuyers are being denied mortgages because of the potential structural damage that the weed can cause. <\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"color: #000000;\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"alignright size-medium wp-image-5309\" alt=\"japanese_knotweed\" src=\"http:\/\/www.propertysurveying.co.uk\/newsletter\/wp-content\/uploads\/japanese_knotweed-300x196.jpg\" width=\"300\" height=\"196\" srcset=\"https:\/\/www.propertysurveying.co.uk\/newsletter\/wp-content\/uploads\/japanese_knotweed-300x196.jpg 300w, https:\/\/www.propertysurveying.co.uk\/newsletter\/wp-content\/uploads\/japanese_knotweed.jpg 441w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 300px) 85vw, 300px\" \/><\/span><span style=\"color: #000000;\">Japanese Knotweed can grow 9ft in just ten weeks and its deep roots can penetrate concrete, foundations, roads and waterways making it extremely dangerous to houses. <\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"color: #000000;\">Mortgage lenders are beginning to recognise the potential damage it could cause buildings and are becoming more cautious when accepting mortgage applications. <\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"color: #000000;\">Small building societies such as Skipton and Leeds will decline mortgages on any properties where Japanese Knotweed is present, whereas Barclays Bank and Santander will accept them if work is undertaken to remove it. Meanwhile banks such as Northern Rock, Nationwide and Clydesdale will consider mortgage applications with guarantees or an indemnity in place and with the guidance of a surveyor. <\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"color: #000000;\">David Hollingworth from the mortgage adviser London &amp; Country explains: <\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"color: #000000;\">\u00e2\u20ac\u0153The reason why lenders are saying they won\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t lend is because in extreme circumstances, it will attack the structure of the property which could have a far-reaching impact\u00e2\u20ac\u009d. He goes on to say \u00e2\u20ac\u0153If you don\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t treat it, the property could become worthless.\u00e2\u20ac\u009d <\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"color: #000000;\">However, Japanese Knotweed does not need to be on your land for it to affect your property, as Mr Metcalfe and his family found out recently. <\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"color: #000000;\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"alignleft size-medium wp-image-5307\" alt=\"japanese_knotweed_2\" src=\"http:\/\/www.propertysurveying.co.uk\/newsletter\/wp-content\/uploads\/japanese_knotweed_2-300x244.jpg\" width=\"300\" height=\"244\" srcset=\"https:\/\/www.propertysurveying.co.uk\/newsletter\/wp-content\/uploads\/japanese_knotweed_2-300x244.jpg 300w, https:\/\/www.propertysurveying.co.uk\/newsletter\/wp-content\/uploads\/japanese_knotweed_2.jpg 441w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 300px) 85vw, 300px\" \/>Mr Metcalfe decided to put his property on the market at \u00c2\u00a3100,000 and had been waiting for nearly two years when he finally thought he had a buyer. <\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"color: #000000;\">Unfortunately, it was not to be. The prospective purchaser instructed a surveyor to inspect the property who highlighted that due to the aggressive growth of Japanese Knotweed on council land adjacent to the property, some of which was reportedly 10ft high, the house was only worth \u00c2\u00a380,000 &#8211; a total reduction of \u00c2\u00a320,000 in value. <\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"color: #000000;\">The expert went on to explain that the weed was hazardous to the foundations of neighboring properties and that it would be wise to get a \u00e2\u20ac\u02dcmigration plan\u00e2\u20ac\u2122 which would highlight the direction of growth, where the roots are and the speed of the growth. <\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"color: #000000;\">Mr Metcalfe\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s potential buyer got cold feet after receiving the report and pulled out of the proposed purchase. Ben Metcalfe said \u00e2\u20ac\u0153We had fallen in love with a house and put an offer in but our sale fell through and now we are stranded\u00e2\u20ac\u00a6It is clearly a real problem when someone can\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t get a mortgage because of weeds\u00e2\u20ac\u009d. <\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"color: #000000;\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"alignright size-medium wp-image-5308\" alt=\"japanese_knotweed_1\" src=\"http:\/\/www.propertysurveying.co.uk\/newsletter\/wp-content\/uploads\/japanese_knotweed_1-300x225.jpg\" width=\"300\" height=\"225\" srcset=\"https:\/\/www.propertysurveying.co.uk\/newsletter\/wp-content\/uploads\/japanese_knotweed_1-300x225.jpg 300w, https:\/\/www.propertysurveying.co.uk\/newsletter\/wp-content\/uploads\/japanese_knotweed_1.jpg 441w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 300px) 85vw, 300px\" \/><\/span><span style=\"color: #000000;\">Eventually, Property Management Company NPS agreed to treat the Knotweed, for the first time in two years and then provide Mr Metcalfe with a certificate guaranteeing it will be monitored and maintained for five years, providing him with the possibility of finally selling his house. <\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"color: #000000;\">Perhaps the only other positive that Mr Metcalfe and his family can take from this experience is that they were made aware of the weed before it caused physical damage to their property. <\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"color: #000000;\">Unfortunately the same cannot be said for Matthew Jones and his fianc\u00c3\u00a9e Sue Banks, who, back in 2011 had \u00c2\u00a3250,000 knocked off the value and were forced to demolish their house in Broxbourne, Hertfordshire because of Japanese Knotweed. To read more about this story or learn more about how to identify Japanese Knotweed click<\/span> <a href=\"http:\/\/www.propertysurveying.co.uk\/newsletter\/?page_id=3060\">here<\/a>.<\/p>\n<p>01\/08\/2013<\/p>\n<p>[contact-form][contact-field label=&#8217;Email&#8217; type=&#8217;email&#8217; required=&#8217;1&#8217;\/][contact-field label=&#8217;I liked this article&#8217; type=&#8217;checkbox&#8217;\/][contact-field label=&#8217;I did not like this article&#8217; type=&#8217;checkbox&#8217;\/][contact-field label=&#8217;Comment&#8217; type=&#8217;textarea&#8217;\/][\/contact-form]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>The ever growing infestation of Japanese Knotweed, which the government believes will cost \u00c2\u00a31.5 billion to clear, is continuing to wreak havoc in the property market. Thousands of homeowners find themselves paying fees of up to \u00c2\u00a320,000 just to remove the weed, whilst many potential homebuyers are being denied mortgages because of the potential structural &hellip; <a href=\"https:\/\/www.propertysurveying.co.uk\/newsletter\/?page_id=5303\" class=\"more-link\">Continue reading<span class=\"screen-reader-text\"> &#8220;Thousands of homebuyers being denied mortgages due to the ongoing invasion of Japanese Knotweed&#8221;<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"parent":0,"menu_order":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","template":"","meta":{"footnotes":""},"folder":[],"class_list":["post-5303","page","type-page","status-publish","hentry"],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v27.5 - https:\/\/yoast.com\/product\/yoast-seo-wordpress\/ -->\n<title>Thousands of homebuyers being denied mortgages due to the ongoing invasion of Japanese Knotweed - Property Surveying NEWSLETTER<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.propertysurveying.co.uk\/newsletter\/?page_id=5303\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_GB\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Thousands of homebuyers being denied mortgages due to the ongoing invasion of Japanese Knotweed - Property Surveying NEWSLETTER\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"The ever growing infestation of Japanese Knotweed, which the government believes will cost \u00c2\u00a31.5 billion to clear, is continuing to wreak havoc in the property market. 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