Home facing demolition after Japanese knotweed invasion
A couple from Broxbourne in Hertfordshire are facing having to demolish their four-bedroom family home after it was invaded by Japanese knotweed.
The fast-growing invasive weed crept into the new-build home of Matthew Jones and fiancée, Sue Banks, from nearby wasteland and has now cause so much damage that the couple has been told that the only way to they can get rid of it is through demolishing the house and starting again.
Matthew said an environmental expert from Broxbourne Council first identified the weed and, after getting a solicitor involved, they found that their options were both dire and very limited.
"[Pesticide] treatment will take three to five years and will cost £25,000. It will also mean that each time we treat the weeds we will have to dig up the flooring," said Matthew. "We've got our [eight-month-old twin babies] now and we don't want these chemicals in the house. And you can imagine the upheaval we would have to go through every year in the spring and summer. We don't want it."
He said the home they bought two years ago - with no sign of the weed anywhere around it - had been their ideal family home, but has turned into a "house from hell".
