Beware the rise of Japanese knotweed
Writing in NLJ this week, Nic Seal, an expert witness and managing director of Environet UK, explains that public awareness of the invasive plant species and the damage it can wreak to buildings is higher than ever, leading to an increase in disputes and litigation.
Imported as an ornamental plant in the 1850s, the plant ‘spreads rapidly and can push up through asphalt, cracks in concrete, driveways, cavity walls and drains in its quest for light and water’.
Seal looks at landlords’ duties and private nuisance actions (see ‘An unwanted visitor’).
