STRUCTURAL DAMAGE- Council Oak TREE ROOTS damaging our Conserventry

Danny_G

There is a giant oak tree on the concil side, outside our garden, which is literally 2-3 metres from our property, from our converventry side.

and the inside wall/and outside walls are cracking.

It is a Structural Root damage.

a) What can we do legally?

b) Can we get a structural engineer to check it?

c) If he says and prooves it is the tree, then can we force the council to Cut it? due to 'damage' to our property? - with Them paying?

d) If the Structural engineer prooves the council should cut it, but they choose NOT too, and be stubborn, what can we do legally, to have actions to cut it?

(eg, saying they can pay for the insurance- or somthing- Note we don't have any insurance)

iamcornholio

The owner of a tree (or the land on which it grows) is responsible for any damage which its' roots cause

You need to make a claim against the council. They will have to compensate you for the damage, and prevent further damage e.g. cut the tree down.

The council will just pass your claim to their insurers, who will deal with you directly

Danny_G

iamcornholio wrote: »

The owner of a tree (or the land on which it grows) is responsible for any damage which its' roots cause

You need to make a claim against the council. They will have to compensate you for the damage, and prevent further damage e.g. cut the tree down.

The council will just pass your claim to their insurers, who will deal with you directly

make a claim? - are there forms for this?, or just a written claim?

Do we need to get a structural engineer?

Do structural engineers do Free checks/ like a free valuation?

if now, how much would they charge? approx?

Hintza

I'll be interested to see how this discussion pans out.

I assume the Oak tree was there before your conservatory and as such will the council be liable? Has the tree got a preservation order on it? Are your founds sound?

keystone

Of course Oak Trees grow really, really quickly. How old is it?

My neighbour had a rear extension done recently and had planned/costed a standard foundation. There is a 400 year old oak some 40 metres away. When the BCO came he had a boo in the trench, looked at the tree and said "double the depth/width of the founds!"

When was your conservatory built, was it built under permitted development rules and did you size the foundations appropriately for a tree only 10 feet away? Personally I think you may have been asking for trouble!

Now if this is a big old tree (and "giant" implies it is) its interesting to note that noone has yet commented on the resultant ground heave that will ocur if the tree is felled just for a couple of cracks in a conservatory wall. If so then we'll be looking at the house falling down I'm guessing which is really far more serious.

So yes, very interesting to see how this one pans out.

Cheers.

ic

I remember a programme on BBC about council planning recently. There was a couple that had an old tree in their own garden that was causing damage to their property which had a preservation order on it. They submit to cut it down, the council said no its a feature of the area, the appealed and then all the neighbours came out in support of the tree also - as they risked losing the tree because the couple hadn't had their extension built correctly. I forget the detailed outcome, but I think the tree won.

tillycat123

I have big trees, when I asked my insurance company what would happen if they fell or caused any damage to a neighbours property they said the neighbour would have to claim on their own house insurance back through to mine.

System

i would be extremely surprised if there is any liability at all on the council here, obvoiously the design/build of the conservatory didn't consider the implication of building near tree roots, the newer building is at fault, not the tree

DVardysShadow

tillycat123 wrote: »

I have big trees, when I asked my insurance company what would happen if they fell or caused any damage to a neighbours property they said the neighbour would have to claim on their own house insurance back through to mine.

That could happen, but they did not tell the whole story. The neighbours could claim off you directly and you would then have to choose whether to refer to your insurer.

daveyjp

I suspect you will need an expert report before going further.

"The tree roots are causing damage" won't stand up to much scrutiny without solid evidence and there are many other reasons for cracking walls which need to be investigated.

Danny_G

keystone wrote: »

Of course Oak Trees grow really, really quickly. How old is it?

My neighbour had a rear extension done recently and had planned/costed a standard foundation. There is a 400 year old oak some 40 metres away. When the BCO came he had a boo in the trench, looked at the tree and said "double the depth/width of the founds!"

When was your conservatory built, was it built under permitted development rules and did you size the foundations appropriately for a tree only 10 feet away? Personally I think you may have been asking for trouble!

Now if this is a big old tree (and "giant" implies it is) its interesting to note that noone has yet commented on the resultant ground heave that will ocur if the tree is felled just for a couple of cracks in a conservatory wall. If so then we'll be looking at the house falling down I'm guessing which is really far more serious.

So yes, very interesting to see how this one pans out.

Cheers.

How old? 15-25 years (I am just assuming)

2+ Metre Foundations were dug. (im sure more even) but the cracks are still appearing.

Edit: the conserventry was build 6 years ago, so it is younger.

The tree was there first