Knotweed in 2025
January is a popular month for property moves - find out why booking a knotweed survey early in the New Year is important.
A management plan is created once a survey has identified Japanese knotweed is on your site. This plan covers the scheduled treatments or excavation works and related costs, and is essential when buying or selling a property. We offer an insurance on our company guarantees that is widely accepted by major UK mortgages lenders in the industry.
The Environment Agency states that once you find Japanese knotweed on private land or commercial development site, it is essential that you set up some form of Knotweed Management Plan (KMP).
It’s the survey findings that will go on to form a documented KMP for the property. This includes an assessment of the extent of the infestation, and severity of impact to the current or proposed future use of the property or land, which can include restrictions on maintenance and amenity use activities, and in rare cases material damage to structures.
The KMP provides you with the survey report, picture evidence of Japanese knotweed (or other invasive weeds) found onsite, a site drawing locating the knotweed and our recommended plan of action for remediation – herbicide programme or excavation and removal.
The quotation within the plan may include several methods depending on the site. If there are known change of land use proposals for the property, these will also be evaluated to decide the appropriate control method. After the works have been carried out you will receive a Completion Report as evidence of works undertaken.
Should we use any method where the knotweed remains onsite (such as Dig & Cap or Dig & Burial) we record the location, dimension and depth of the burial in our Completion Report. It is important that the KMP is kept as a permanent record of where any knotweed was relocated to so that this can be provided to future purchasers. On developed sites this document should be included in the Operational and Maintenance Manuals.
Each KMP is specifically written to cater for the requirements of the customer and site.
When quoting your remedial works, we will include an insurance policy or provide you with a quotation for a Insurance Backed Guarantee which can provide insurance cover for a period of up to ten years and only a one-off premium payment is required. The quotation will confirm the premium applicable. This is a low cost, long term insurance policy, which provides valuable protection for consumers when undertaking home improvements projects. It provides you with additional peace of mind that in the unlikely event the company ceases to trade, for whatever reason, you can still make a claim under the terms of the original guarantee.
If you discover that the original contractor has ceased to trade you would make a claim to the insurance underwriters. They would organise a re-inspection of the property by an alternative PCA member contractor. If the re-inspection report confirms regrowth of Japanese knotweed*, The underwriters will meet the reasonable costs of any re-treatment works required.
*in the area(s) originally treated, and detailed within your management plan, and covered by the original contractor’s written guarantee.
January is a popular month for property moves - find out why booking a knotweed survey early in the New Year is important.
SUPPORTING THE SOMERSET WILDLIFE TRUST This year Japanese Knotweed Ltd will be supporting the Somerset Wildlife Trust to tackle invasive plants in Somerset with a donation to their Christmas Challenge. Donations made between 3rd and 10th December will be matched by the charity. Staff at Japanese Knotweed Ltd have also been encouraged to participate by…