It’s always a bit of a race to spot the first knotweed shoots of the year, and Emily Grant our regional director for the south west has come up trumps for the second year in a row! The telltale red asparagus-like spears have emerged on the banks of the River Plym in Plymouth, Devon, more than a fortnight earlier than last year, confirming that the UK’s most invasive plant has already begun its spring growth season.

Since RICS published its new Guidance Note for surveyors dealing with Japanese knotweed at the end of January, there’s been a great deal of confusion about what it actually means for homeowners and buyers.

This is partly down to some serious misreporting in the press, with a number of national newspapers stating that the new rules mean knotweed will no longer be considered at all by surveyors unless it’s causing physical damage to property. The guidance has also been widely misinterpreted by property professionals, including surveyors and conveyancers, across social media.

A serious case of bamboo encroachment, reported in The Daily Mail and on BBC Radio 4 this week, has resulted in a Hampshire customer’s entire ground floor being dug up and hundreds of metres of bamboo runners excavated from beneath the property, after the plant emerged through the floor in the living room, study, hall and kitchen.