Seller faces £200k legal bill over knotweed

A FURNITURE designer who bought a £700,000 home only to find Japanese knotweed behind the garden shed has successfully sued the seller, who faces a £200,000 court bill.

Jonathan Downing, 30, bought his three-bedroom house in Raynes Park, south-west London, from chartered accountant Jeremy Henderson, 41, in August 2018.

He planned to build a workshop in the garden. But shortly after moving in he found invasive Japanese knotweed canes behind a large St John’s wort bush that was growing next to the shed, Central London County Court heard.

Mr Henderson had answered “no” to the question on a property information form asking if the property had been affected by knotweed. He claimed he could not see the plant because it was hidden by the large bush and only came to light when Mr Downing cut it back. But Judge Jan Luba KQ said his confidence in Mr Henderson’s story was “shaken” by evidence given by an expert who suggested the knotweed canes had possibly stood 6ft tall at one point and might have been “overhanging the neighbouring garden”.

He must now pay £32,000 in damages, Mr Downing’s legal bills of up to £95,000, as well as his own costs estimated at almost £100,000.