Mortgage Problems

You may be aware through experience of the painful consequences of having knotweed flagged up up on a mortgage survey. Nowadays, all providers refuse to lend against property that has knotweed close to the property. Some of the biggest lenders refuse even if it is spotted on neighbouring land. This is a disgrace and we feel that this is more a way to reduce their lending than as rational response to a solvable problem. That said, it effectively, means that your property temporarily has no sale value.

Obviously the quicker the knotweed is eradicated the faster a sale can be agreed. We will get our treatment programme underway as soon as possible but unfortunately you will have to be patient, as it is pointless applying herbicides when they will be ineffective.  Generally speaking there are optimum treatment times for different chemicals – February for soil treatment, Spring before end of May for one type of spraying, May to October for injecting and end Sept/ October for another type of spraying. Knotweed is an unpredictable plant but in 95% of cases we will eliminate the problem inside 18 months, smaller infestations can be overcome in 12 months sometimes , observation and response are key.

There is hope that mortgage lenders will see sense and realise that, although a huge headache, knotweed problems can be beaten, and will therefore open for business again. Some have relented after viewing our report, risk assessment and proposed treatment programme where we have shown the risk is negligible. Please call us if you think a report would help your situation.