For many homeowners, building extensions and ancillary buildings, or even new residences, meets their needs to expand their property, improve it or use it to generate increased revenue.
With the scale of the UK wide Japanese Knotweed infestation, there are serious implications to the normal practise of developing your home or land. This is best highlighted in the 2022 report by the Royal Institution of Chartered Surveyors (RICS), who state:
“The Environmental Protection Act 1990 contains legal provisions that designate Japanese knotweed-contaminated soil as ‘controlled’ waste. Only properly licensed organisations may remove this waste from a property, and they must take it to appropriately licensed waste facilities. This can have serious implications for owners who want to develop their property. In properties affected by Japanese knotweed, large amounts of contaminated soil can result from activities such as:
- adding an extension to the main building
- redesigning the garden and
- maintaining and repairing the property following a Japanese knotweed infestation (for example, re-laying paths and drains).
The need for licensed removal of this contaminated soil and any associated plant material will obviously add to the cost of the work. The cost of removing Japanese knotweed contaminated soil and possibly protecting works with a root barrier can be significant.
Guidance from the Environment Agency is that waste should be minimised and various IP12 Japanese knotweed and residential property proportionate solutions to reduce the amount of waste are often available, but the financial impact of Japanese knotweed on this type of work must not be underestimated.”
The fault of an infestation, that could cost thousands to remedy and take years to remove, is rarely in the hands of you, the homeowner. Your infestation may have come from a surrounding property or authority / corporate managed land. If this is the case, you do have a potential claim, both for the cost of removal and compensation.
If you would like a free no obligation discussion with our claims specialist to discuss your concerns in more detail, go to our Japanese Knotweed Claims page on this website click here or use the email / telephone number at the bottom of this web page to contact us direct.
If you do have an actionable claim for compensation that we can support, we will proceed on a 100% no win – no fee basis for your complete peace of mind.
To view the full RICS report, click here.
