At SE Knotweed, a mortgage survey confirms the knotweed, records the RICS management category and issues a plan and insurance-backed guarantee in the format a lender needs to lend against the property.
At SE Knotweed, a knotweed survey for a mortgage is an on-site inspection written to a lender's format, confirming the species, measuring the stand against the RICS 3 metre zone and recording its management category so a valuer can price the risk.
The report names the method we advise, the monitoring period and the guarantee term, in the same language a surveyor and a mortgage valuer read. Book a survey and we will write it to your lender's requirement.
A mortgage lender asks for a knotweed survey because the valuer has flagged the plant as a risk to the property that secures the loan, and the lender wants written evidence from an accredited specialist that the risk is identified and being managed.
The survey answers the three questions a lender has: whether it is genuinely Japanese knotweed, how close it sits to the building and the boundary, and whether a costed plan and an insurance-backed guarantee are in place. Our report sets each out so the case can go back to the valuer.
A mortgage knotweed survey includes a site inspection, confirmation of the species from the stem, leaf and growth habit, a measured plan of the stand and the 3 metre zone, the RICS management category, and a costed treatment plan with the guarantee term.
We photograph the stand, note the distance to the dwelling, outbuildings and the boundary, and record whether the source is on the property or an adjoining plot. The finished document is what your solicitor sends to the lender.
Most lenders want a case recorded against the RICS management categories A to D, and they lend where a management plan and an insurance-backed guarantee sit behind a Category B or C finding rather than refusing outright.
The category the survey records depends on how close the knotweed is to the building and whether there is any visible structural damage. Our page on the RICS categories A to D explains each band and what it means for a valuation.
The management plan and the insurance-backed guarantee satisfy a lender because together they move the future cost and risk off the property: the plan sets out how the stand will be treated and monitored, and the guarantee funds further treatment if regrowth appears within the term.
We produce the management plan from the survey findings and set out the insurance-backed guarantee an audited contractor issues, which is the document a mortgage valuer relies on to release the loan.
A mortgage knotweed survey costs from £150 to £500 for a domestic property, with a report written to a lender's template sitting at the higher end because of the detail and the plan it carries. We often credit the fee against the treatment cost if you go ahead.
The figure turns on the site, travel and the size of the stand, so please treat it as indicative until we have the address. The survey cost page explains what moves the fee.
We can usually inspect a property and issue the written report within a week, and faster where a sale is under time pressure and the lender is waiting. The treatment itself then continues after completion, covered by the guarantee.
Send us the address and the valuer's comment, and we will give you a realistic date for the report the lender needs.
Japanese knotweed rarely stops a mortgage outright, because most lenders proceed once a management plan and an insurance-backed guarantee show the risk is handled. A valuer flags it, but a flagged risk that is being managed is a very different case from an untreated stand with no plan.
Our knotweed and mortgages pillar sets out what different lenders ask for and how a costed plan moves a stalled application forward.
Where the knotweed originates on adjoining land, the survey records the source and the distance to your boundary, which is the evidence a lender, a solicitor and any future claim rely on. It does not change the lender's need for a plan on your side of the fence.
The position between neighbours is a private nuisance question, and our page on neighbour responsibility explains it without overstating what can be recovered.
Tell us the address and what a surveyor flagged. We confirm the plant, record the RICS category and set out the figures.