Japanese knotweed: the scourge that could sink your house sale | Money | The Observer

Japanese knotweed: the scourge that could sink your house sale | Money | The Observer

Two weeks before he was due to exchange contracts and move into a new home, Peter Gingell received a call from his estate agent saying the whole thing was off. His buyers had pulled out, his chain had collapsed and his dream home was just that. The reason? A 3cm-high weed in his back garden.
"When I was told, I thought it was a joke," says Gingell.
However, this wasn't just any old weed; it was Japanese knotweed, described by the Environment Agency as "indisputably the UK's most aggressive, destructive and invasive plant".
It can grow to 3-4m in just 10 weeks – the equivalent of two grown adults. Underground, its roots – or rhizomes – can spread 7m horizontally and compromise the structure of buildings.