A WOMAN has told how she was denied a mortgage after Japanese Knotweed was found “near” her home.
Lisa Best, 42, from Manchester, was left shocked by the decision after the intrusive plant was found in an alleyway.
Jam Press/@nwpropertymumLisa said that evidence of the plant in the surrounding areas was not picked up[/caption]
The mum credits her dad for inspiring her to get on the property ladder, and is now warning prospective property investors of the risks involved when buying a home without getting a surveyor in to check everything is in order.
Speaking to AbsolutelyBusiness.com, she said: “I renovated a property [a few years ago] and there was evidence of the plant in the surrounding alleyways, which wasn’t picked up when I initially bought it.
“I later wanted to re-mortgage, but as it can’t be within seven metres of a home in order to get approved for the loan, they denied my application.
“It was nerve-wracking, as I had never experienced this before and the worst-case scenarios kept running through my mind.
“I thought I’d have to sell the property – and worse, if I was able to even sell it due to this – but I acted straight away to try and sort it out.”
Lisa then got a specialist to professionally treat the growth and showed certification of this as evidence to her mortgage lender, who approved her for the loan.
She said: “It’s not necessarily ‘game over’ if you do get refused a mortgage.
“It was a bit of a back-and-forth battle to see if they would accept, as there was no guarantee the certification would be enough.
“If I was buying this home for myself as a first-time buyer, it would’ve been a lot more stressful than it was for me as an investor.”
Lisa, who runs the website Propertyable, says her dad’s biggest regret was never investing his money into property while he could, and as she got older he urged her to do it if possible.
She said: “I had no fears when buying my own home, as I knew that I wanted an easier life for my kids when I had them – that was my focus.
“I was excited to be buying something on my own, but on reflection, I was probably a bit naive to things that I’m more aware of these days, such as the hidden costs.”
After two years, she had saved up £5,000 to put down on a £79,000 house.
After renovating the home with cheap DIY, she was able to sell it for £104,000.
She shares her tips and journey on TikTok (@nwpropertymum).
She added: “I worked backwards and decided on my goal, then worked out how much I needed to save.
“I bought slightly out of the area I wanted and kept my savings separate.
“I also reviewed my spending habits and I had no shop-bought coffee or meal deals during this time – only packing lunches.”
JAPANESE KNOTWEED: HOW DANGEROUS IS IT?
Although Japanese Knotweed is not poisonous to humans, the damage it can do to structures can be costly due to the speed at which it can grow.
The troublesome plant can relentlessly increase in length up to 10cm a day and as a result can cause serious damage to structural foundations and cause excess damage to any weak points of a property it manages to spread to.
Under UK law, it’s not illegal to have Japanese knotweed on a property, as long as it is declared beforehand.
However, if it spreads into the wild – or exceeds seven metres of any other property – then this can result in legal action being taken, such as a £5,000 fine or prison time.
This comes after a pensioner noticed the weed had spread from a railway line into his home.
74-year-old Richard Pember, 74 said: “My message to others who might have a similar Japanese knotweed infestation is, get it sorted quickly otherwise you’ll pay the price.”
He is not the only one who has suffered this particular type of infestation.
Nasreen and Sajid Akhtar discovered an infestation next door and feared they would be stuck with a £150,000 property that they wouldn’t be able to sell.
Based in Birmingham, they had no luck selling even after 20 viewings with three seperate agents.
Jam Press/@nwpropertymumLisa said that her dad regretted never getting on the property ladder which inspired her not to make the same mistake[/caption]
Jam Press Vid/@nwpropertymumLisa said she had no idea about the plant being near the home when she bought it[/caption]
Jam Press Vid/@nwpropertymumLuckily after she called on a specialist to to treat the infestation she was able to re-mortage the property[/caption]
Jam Press Vid/@nwpropertymumIf the problem has gone on too long it could have caused the house to be worthless[/caption]
Jam Press Vid/@nwpropertymumThe property expert is now warning prosspective buyers to have any property they’re considering buying checked for the weed[/caption] Published: [#item_custom_pubDate]
