Selling our property but our survey has said that neighbour has to cut their conifers

jadex91

Our next door neighbour has really high conifers and they stop light getting in our garden in the afternoon, our buyers solicitor is writing a letter to them to ask them to cut them down to the fence height, what is the height they are allowed to be? And if its blocking our light is there anything we can do? Apparently they can get an asbo? Thanks

SailorSam

You may find some of this interesting.
Hedge wars probably only comes second behind noise with neighbour disputes. Good luck.

http://www.clareh3.webspace.virginmedia.com/hdg1Curr.htm

Errata

I think an unacceptable height is anything over 2 metres, but there is nothing in law that says hedges can't be higher. A council can only order someone by way of a Remedial Notice to reduce a hedge to a height that will remedy a problem.

dimbo61

You really need to speak to your neighbour and ask HIM?HER to look at the website that SailorSam has given you the link too.
It is I believe now against the Law to have your Evergreen hedge above 2 meters and if it is taking light off your garden they will have to reduce the height.
Having tried to do this myself once it is a Big job if you have several tall evergreen trees and your neighbour would be better off getting in a firm to reduce the height or chop them down altogether.
Even if they asked your permission to plant a hedge on there side of the garden fence quick growing evergreen trees can grow to 60/80 feet high and turn your garden into a cold dark grass less patch with no natural sunlight.
They should have considered the neighbours before planting them

moneyistooshorttomention

Google for the High Hedges Act. This Act stemmed from the neighbour of someone with conifers.

The definition of a hedge is "two or more trees" and, from memory, the height allowed is 2 metres.

Councils do have the power to enforce cutting these trees down to a reasonable height, but its my understanding they might be more or less helpful with using their powers on this and might or might not levy a charge on the "innocent" neighbour (ie yourself) to have this done.

Don't forget the entitlement we all have to trim trees/hedges/etc back to the boundary (provided we offer the trimmings to the next door neighbour with offending plant/s). I've seen a row of leylandii trimmed back to the border to the exact inch by an obviously frustrated neighbour and it looks an awful lot as if the trees were so unhappy with that treatment that I don't anticipate they will last much longer. I think, at the least, it looks as if that "straight down trim" might have stopped them growing any higher. They certainly now look very very ugly indeed.

Good luck.

pmlindyloo

Jadex91 wrote: »

Our next door neighbour has really high conifers and they stop light getting in our garden in the afternoon, our buyers solicitor is writing a letter to them to ask them to cut them down to the fence height, what is the height they are allowed to be? And if its blocking our light is there anything we can do? Apparently they can get an asbo? Thanks

Your thread title says that it was the survey that stipulated that the trees should be cut down. Is that right? If so ,what exactly did the survey say?

From my reading the light problem is not in itself a reason for cutting down the trees - it is more to do with the loss of your 'amenities' (explained in the given link)

I am trying to work out how this is going to affect the sale of your house. Are they saying they won't buy if the trees are not cut down?

Not sure that the solicitor can demand that the trees are cut down. Only a court can do that. Have you spoken to your neighbours about this? Presumably you have asked them to cut down them down and they have refused.

Errata

Government information about hedges here https://www.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/9411/highhedgescomplaining.pdf

moneyistooshorttomention

The buyers concern is going to be that leylandii grow at the rate of 3' per year.

On from this, they will be wondering how far the roots have spread.

Also, at least some insurance companies are concerned about the height of trees that near to a house (I think about 23' is the maximum height they will accept if a tree is very near to a house and after that they start getting very nervous). I don't know just how they express that "nervousness" but they aren't happy about it.

Personally, I wouldn't even view a house where a neighbour had leylandii trees along the border (even if it was more than 1 of them) unless I could see they were dead.