With more and more people taking the legal route to attempt to resolve knotweed-related conflicts, taking your case to court may seem like the obvious path to follow when faced with a potential knotweed problem.
Knotweed is a legally monitored plant under the Wildlife and Countryside Act of 1981 and technically counts as ‘controlled waste’. The planting or spreading of knotweed can result in a £5,000 fine or 2-years in prison.
Due to these laws, there are many scenarios in which individuals may feel the need to get the law involved in a knotweed-related dispute – for example, perhaps they brought a house and the seller was dishonest about the presence of knotweed on their property.
The most common reason individuals wind up in court over knotweed is because a neighbour has knotweed that has spread over the property line, and it is now affecting the value (and possibly structural integrity) of another house. Failure to deal with knotweed on your own property can, in the long run, result in neighbours taking legal action against you.
This was the case for a woman in London who took her neighbour to court over knotweed. She claimed that there was Japanese knotweed present on the neighbouring property that grew over the boundaries and reduced the value of her home. This knotweed growth forced her to sell her home for £150,000 less than the evaluation price. In this particular case, the claimant was unable to regain the £150,000 she lost due to the knotweed presence, and on top of that, she had to pay out £100,000 in legal fees.
You can read more about that particular story here.
This is just one example of the ramifications that can come with not taking action with a known knotweed presence, and also of the legal route not always being the best method of resolution. Going to court over knotweed is timely, expensive, and stressful. It is far better to call in a Japanese knotweed specialist who can assess the situation, speak to both parties, and help resolve the matter amicably.
There are a number of different knotweed treatment plans available, from excavation to herbicide, so you can find a method agreeable to all. If you’d like to learn more about the different knotweed treatment plans available from Taylor Total Weed Control, click the link below.
Knotweed Treatment Plans
Taylor Total Weed Control also offer FREE no-obligation Japanese knotweed surveys. One of our knotweed professionals will survey the situation and issue a bespoke report outlining the best treatment options along with a figure of how much you might expect to pay.
Free Knotweed Survey
Read More: Japanese Knotweed Legal Cases Rise by 25%
Is It Japanese Knotweed?