Buying A House With Bamboo UK

Buying a house with bamboo UK ?

If you are buying a house with bamboo or looking at a house with bamboo growing in its gardens you really should consider the potential risk that this may bring.
Bamboo is an invasive species with more and more UK homeowners finding that it can have costly consequences.
With certain species its rhizomes can spread unseen under ground meters per year.

Many people falsely believe that it is only “running bamboo” that has spreading rhizomes, this is incorrect.
Once “Clumping Bamboo” reaches a mature stage it too will send out running rhizomes for it to expand, to create a ever increasing bamboo grove.
The greater size of bamboo grove that is created the more energy that it can create, leading to greater rhizomes creation and ever more energy and growth.

Bamboo is often planted in UK homes to provide screening and privacy from nearby neighbours.
The planting of this bamboo normally being on boundary edges such as flower borders or along fence lines.
Yet it is this positioning that represents the greatest financial risk, bamboo encroachment. Buying a house with bamboo encroachment is a serious matter.

Bamboo encroachment is where the bamboo spreads from its original planting position into other areas.
If bamboo spreads into a neighbouring property or area of land, due to the fact that bamboo is an invasive species, the homeowner where the bamboo originates is highly likely to be responsible for the removal costs and any associated damage.
Whilst simple removal costs are not insignificant, if bamboo has encroached under patios, into landscaped areas or borders of shrubs, costs can spiral very quickly into many many thousands of pounds.
When looking at any property bamboo is certainly one thing to look out for in the garden, or indeed neighbouring gardens, checking for bamboo encroachment.
It is not currently a legal requirement to notify any prospective buyer of bamboo unlike Japanese Knotweed, but the consequences of bamboo can be as great if not worse.

If you are considering buying a house with bamboo in the UK and are at a stage of making an offer thought should be given to the costs of bamboo removal.
Bamboo removal costs are based on a number of elements including the size of area affected, the type of bamboo, whether running or clumping, and site access.
Most specialist bamboo removal companies will have a range of costs.
Starting costs for most bamboo removals are typically from £1000 +vat for a very small bamboo grove in an average garden area.
However if you have a very small area affected by bamboo the cost could be lower.
In our experience most bamboo removals cost between £1500 and £5000 +vat, although in some extreme cases where bamboo encroachment has been left costs can run into tens of thousands of pounds.

To sum up, if you are considering buying a house with bamboo UK make sure you are very aware of the consequences and the potential costs involved to remove this invasive plant.
Any offer forwarded to purchase the house should reflect the bamboo removal cost.