My mortgage was refused due to Japanese knotweed that wasn’t even on my property – there’s a law I had no idea about
A PROPERTY whizz has warned people to never skip having a survey done on a property before moving in as it could save you thousands of pounds.
Lisa Best, a property investor, often takes to her social media channels to share her helpful insights on hidden buying costs, mistakes and tips on finding the perfect place to live.
And in a bid to help once more, Lisa shared a clip of herself explaining how an invasive weed cost her mortgage renewal.
Driving in her car, the blonde beauty explained that she bought a house six years ago and neglected getting a survey done.
“In 2017 I bought a house and didn’t get a survey,” she wrote.
“That property had Japanese knotweed within 7m of the boundary (not on property) and the lender later refused my mortgage renewal.”
Lisa explained that she had no choice but to contact a specialist, who “treated the area” and presented her with a certificate.
Luckily, the lender accepted this and her situation was resolved.
Warning others, however, she said: “Remember Japanese knotweed doesn’t have to be on your property, but also remember that most problems with property can be solved.”
In the caption, she added: “A survey may cost £500 or so, but can save you thousands in the long run.
“Japanese knotweed is considered an issue within 7m of a property boundary. It doesn’t have to be in the property.
“But, it can be sorted as with many issues to do with property.”
She added: “My home buying tip is to get a survey and second opinion when needed.”
By law, sellers and estate agents must inform potential buyers if a property and its land has Japanese knotweed on it.
Although it’s not against the law to have it on the property or land, it’s against the law to allow it to spread into the wild or neighbouring properties.
Previously, the Royal Institute of Chartered Surveyors (RICS) stated that properties within 7 metres of Japanese knotweed would be considered affected by it. This has since been recused to 3 metres.
People flocked to the comments section as one person asked: “Did the previous owners not know about it?” to which she replied: “Not declared!”
Another person shared: “I hope you didn’t pay too much to get it cleared. Just get some glyphosate and spray the leaves. That will kill it.”
While a third added: “we had a survey on a property and they didn’t know about it! Wasn’t until neighbours sale fell through that we discovered it!”
TikTok user @nwpropertymum replied: “Really? I’ve heard that happen before. Did you go back to them?”
They responded: “We pulled out, ironically the seller actually told us about next door having it, and how he had it and dug it out. Pulled out as soon as we left”.