Once Japanese knotweed is found on a property, many prospective homeowners will ask the question ‘Will Japanese knotweed affect you getting a mortgage?’
Japanese knotweed is a plant that can grow quickly and has the potential to cause harm, but knowing this will affect you getting a mortgage or not can become one big headache.
It can be difficult to get rid of, so it’s important to take steps now to protect your home and prevent this from happening in the future. This article will explain how Japanese knotweed affects your getting a mortgage, what happens if you have it on your property, and what you can do about it.
Japanese knotweed is a very invasive weed that can cause serious problems for homeowners and lenders. This weed starts to grow in cracks in the ground, often forming enormous colonies of plants.
It then spreads quickly via its rhizomes under the soil, popping up in other areas of the property or even on neighbouring properties.
If you have Japanese knotweed growing on your property and plan to get a mortgage soon, this blog post will help you understand how this invasive plant might affect your ability to buy your home or refinance your current mortgage so it’s easier to make decisions about what needs to be done with this pest before applying for financing.
While it’s certainly not good for your credit rating, the Japanese knotweed infestation doesn’t normally affect your mortgage application as much as other types of infestations would. This is because it’s more difficult to detect on a property that has not yet been occupied.
The reaction of a typical building society
A property that has been occupied by this weed, however, may attract the attention of a building society or a specialist report writer who can analyse the site to find any evidence of the infestation and the subsequent damage it may have caused.
If there is evidence then the borrower may be asked to pay a small sum to the building society or specialist in order to remove it, which could well result in them being charged an additional fee.
How dangerous is it considered?
In terms of how Japanese knotweed affects your getting a mortgage, it is generally considered one of the less harmful kinds of infestations. Knotweed infests are generally concentrated in one area, rather than spreading to a neighbouring property.
It’s also considered to be relatively rare, with a small amount of it being found on just one property in a given location.
Although it does have a high reproductive rate and will form many small knots in pipes and drainage systems, it generally dies out after a few years, leaving behind empty brown soil with dead roots.
Will it affect the value of my property?
The problem is that when Japanese knotweed dies out, it can leave large bare areas on the property, which can look unsightly. This is often used by mortgage lenders to demonstrate the property hasn’t been damaged in the past.
They will use this to argue that the property isn’t as valuable as it could be. Even if it does survive, the lenders may not be prepared to lend a large sum of money due to it not being a show property.
Usually, a qualified building society or valuer will be seeking proof of its presence, but this can be useful for your lender too in order for them to ascertain the scale of the problem and whether it affects the property price.
Building societies don’t take kindly to being offered property without proper research. If you were to show them evidence of a build-up of Japanese knotweed on your property, for example, you could risk losing your mortgage.
You can also expect to be asked to pay a premium insurance premium over and above what you would normally pay on any comparable property in your local area.
These costs are determined by how much of the property is infested with knotweed and are also dependent on the value of the property in question.
Typically, Japanese knotweed can devalue a property by 5 to 15% and more in extreme cases.
In conclusion
How Can Japanese Knotweed Affect Your Getting A Mortgage?
It is essential that you get advice before taking out a mortgage lender’s policies. In the case of knotweed infestation, it may be possible to remove the infestation yourself using herbicides.
However, if your property is seriously damaged, or you have no alternative, your lender may be able to help you with their own infestation control or removal services.
Do not be afraid of seeking professional help as they will have a better understanding of the process involved in clearing the problem and more likely how most outcomes occur with building societies and surveyors.
If you notice these plants growing near your foundation or coming up through paving stones or cracks in concrete, contact an expert immediately for help with safely removing them before they affect your home value too much.
Want to know more about does Japanese Knotweed affect you getting a mortgage?
Knotweed Removal aims to provide the most up-to-date information, help and advice for YOU to make informed decisions. If you are unsure or uncertain about how to proceed, please reach out to us and we will gladly come back and advise you as best we can.
Governmental advice can be found here and the UK law covering the removal of Japanese Knotweed as stated under the Wildlife and Countryside Act 1981 can be found here.
The best means to contact us is via our email – hello@knotweedremoval.tips
Do not forget we have a library of blogs covering many areas relevant to Japanese Knotweed, our free downloadable How-to Guides and Product Reviews on the latest methods being employed to eradicate or remove Japanese Knotweed.
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