Hotspots for 'invasive' Japanese knotweed have been identified across Bracknell as it enters its peak growing phase.
Environment experts have warned home owners to look out for the destructive plant which could set you back hundreds if left untreated.
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Despite Japanese Knotweed dying back in the Winter season, having the plant in your garden still poses a problem for property buyers.
Data from YouGov and Environet UK suggests the plant is becoming a huge problem for buyers who buy a property without knowing it has as knotweed infestation.
Nic Seal, Founder and MD of Environet UK said: “Now more than ever it’s vital that sellers are honest and declare that there is, or could be, knotweed growing on their property.
"Awareness among the general public is now so high and there’s such a strong precedent set in the courts that it’s likely they will end up paying the price further down the line if they answer dishonestly or claim not to know of its presence. In fact, it’s quite easy for a Japanese knotweed expert to tell how long an infestation has been there and, in encroachment cases, the source of the infestation.”
The plant is hard to treat without professional help and can even reduce a property's value by about 10 per cent.
Homeowners can easily face bills of around £30,000 from an encroachment claim, rising to £70,000 or more if the claim succeeds in court. If the knotweed spreads to more than one property then the bill could climb even higher.
So, experts have warned residents to keep an eye out and get it removed before paying a high price for it.
Mark Montaldo of CEL Solicitors, which specialises in legal cases relating to misrepresentation and Japanese knotweed encroachment said: “Homeowners are becoming much more willing to sue if they find themselves the victim of Japanese knotweed misrepresentation, whereby a property they’ve bought has later been found to have knotweed but the seller failed to declare it.
“I would say cases have increased around 30% over the last 3 years, which is down to growing awareness of the problem and the laws in place to protect people, relatively high success rates in legal cases, and recent changes to the TA6 form which puts more of an onus on the seller to highlight any issues with knotweed.”
To help, a heatmap of hotspots has been created for Bracknell by Environet UK.
It is currently showing that there are 7 infestations in Bracknell within a 4km radius, and in Wokingham there a 13 cases.
Experts say, as a result, that these areas are hotspots for more cases.
To look for reported cases in your area, via postcodes, click here for the heatmap.
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