A woman has revealed how she was denied a mortgage due to a common plant that wasn’t on her property.
Lisa Best, who purchased her first home, at the age of only 23, has always been an “absolute saver” and was brought up with a frugal mindset toward money.
The 42-year-old, from Manchester, became inspired to get into property after graduating from university and renting out a flat close to work – but was eager to put money in her own pocket, rather than someone else’s.
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Now, the investor has a portfolio worth £750,000 – however, it’s not all been smooth sailing, with the mum claiming she was once denied a mortgage due to a bizarre law relating to Japanese knotweed, a fast-growing plant that weakens buildings and structures.
“I renovated a property [a few years ago] and there was evidence of the plant in the surrounding alleyways, which wasn’t picked up when I initially bought it,” Lisa told NeedToKnow.co.uk.
“I later wanted to re-mortgage, but as it can’t be within seven metres of a home in order to get approved for the loan, they denied my application.
“It was nerve-wracking, as I had never experienced this before and the worst-case scenarios kept running through my mind.
“I thought I’d have to sell the property – and worse, if I was able to even sell it due to this – but I acted straight away to try and sort it out.”
Lisa got a specialist to professionally treat the growth and showed certification of this as evidence to her mortgage lender, who approved her for the loan.
She said: “It’s not necessarily ‘game over’ if you do get refused a mortgage.
“It was a bit of a back-and-forth battle to see if they would accept, as there was no guarantee the certification would be enough.
“If I was buying this home for myself as a first-time buyer, it would’ve been a lot more stressful than it was for me as an investor.”
Under UK law, it’s not illegal to have Japanese knotweed on a property, as long as it is declared beforehand.
However, if it spreads into the wild – or exceeds seven metres of any other property – then this can result in legal action being taken, such as a £5,000 fine or prison time.
Lisa, who runs the website Moving House Support And Information | Propertyable, says her dad’s biggest regret was never investing his money into property while he could and as she got older, he urged her to do this if possible.
The 42-year-old said: “I had no fears when buying my own home, as I knew that I wanted an easier life for my kids when I had them – that was my focus.
“I was excited to be buying something on my own, but on reflection, I was probably a bit naive to things that I’m more aware of these days, such as the hidden costs.”
After two years, she had saved up £5,000 to put down on a £79,000 house.
After renovating the home with cheap DIY, she was able to sell it for £104,000.
She shares her tips and journey on TikTok (@nwpropertymum).
She added: “I worked backwards and decided on my goal, then worked out how much I needed to save.
“I bought slightly out of the area I wanted and kept my savings separate.
“I also reviewed my spending habits and I had no shop-bought coffee or meal deals during this time – only packing lunches.”
Since then, she has bought and renovated eight more properties but has kept four of them, which she makes a monthly income due to renting them out.
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