This morning, our Managing Director and Founder, Nic Seal, guest presented a webinar for leading conveyancing body, Searches UK.

Nic presented the webinar ‘How does Japanese knotweed affect property sales’ to over 170 registrants.

As suggested by the title, the webinar looked directly at how Japanese knotweed impacts property transactions, and what the fall out can look like for both conveyancers and their clients.

Nic illustrated the complexity of the issues that can arise from the presence of Japanese knotweed where a sale is concerned with the use of multiple case studies. These were drawn from his personal experience as leading invasive plant remediation specialist, his work as a legal expert witness, and some high-profile cases which been causing a stir in the property and conveyancing industries. 

Nic explored the conundrum of the “Not Known” answer to Q7.8 of the Law Society’s Property Information TA6 form in great depth, and provided the conveyancers watching with a simple solution, with legs to protect against a professional negligence claim, or their clients from a misrepresentation claim.

A different set of rules apply to the declaration of Japanese knotweed on new-build properties, which the audience was advised of and told how  assist clients in navigating this.

During the Q&A session, night delved further into the nuances of the legality surrounding the infamous invasive plant, while one audience question highlighted that the dangers of bamboo are, quite rightfully, entering the awareness of the conveyancing world.