Jonathan Downing, 30, a London-based furniture designer who bought his $1 million dream home only to discover Japanese knotweed in the garden has successfully sued the seller. Downing bought his three-bedroom west London home from accountant Jeremy Henderson, 41, in August 2018.
Downing, who graduated from the world-famous Chippendale International School of Furniture, planned to settle into the Edwardian home and set up a workshop in the garden. But while tidying the garden shortly after moving in, he discovered Japanese knotweed behind a large bush growing next to the shed.
Japanese knotweed is an invasive species notorious for spreading and causing damage to buildings, and is difficult and expensive to eradicate. Downing sued the former owner, seeking damages from him for providing false information about the presence of knotweed when he sold the property.
Henderson had answered "no" to the question on the property information form about whether the property was knotweed infested and argued that he "reasonably believed" he was telling the truth when he did so.
He claimed he could not see the knotweed because of the large shrubbery, which also likely inhibited the weed's growth before it started growing when the shrubbery was cut after Downing moved in.
Judge ruled in favor of Downing, saying: "Everything turns on the specific facts of the act of representation and its individual circumstances. Mr Henderson told me on oath that he genuinely did think there wasn't any Japanese knotweed in his garden. He knew what it looked like and he had not seen any in the three years he had been there. His mother was a keen gardener and she made no report to him of Japanese knotweed."
"No previous owners had mentioned Japanese knotweed to him and none of the neighbors had Japanese knotweed in their gardens. Had that evidence stood alone, he would have amply satisfied me of his reasonable belief that there was no Japanese knotweed at his property," he added.
The judge said his confidence in Mr Henderson's story was shaken by the testimony of a knotweed expert, who indicated that at one point the knotweed shrubs might have been 6 ft tall and "protruded into the neighbor's garden." There was also evidence that the weed had been treated with herbicides at some point in the past," he said.
"The opinion of the single joint expert is that Japanese knotweed growing would have been visible in the garden," he continued.
So the judge didn't believe that Mr. Henderson was completely unaware of the presence of Japanese knotweed on his former property and ruled that Mr Henderson must pay $32,000 in damages and Mr Downing's lawyer bills of up to $95,000, as well as his own costs estimated at nearly $100,000.
Source: Daily Mail
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