Conifers

lexilex

We viewed a property last week that we love. The house itself is perfect. However we are concerned as the neighbours have conifers which grow alongside the house we are interested in. The nearest are about 3 foot away from the house, and height wise the tallest is about 30ft.

The owners have only been in the property for 4 months. By the sounds of it neighbours promised the trees would be cut down within 2 months. When this didn't happen the owner of the house were interested in took it upon themselves to cut all but one of them down to about 15 foot. It obviously caused a bit of a dispute and they no longer talk. The owner said the reason for cutting them down was due to a lack of light rather than any problems with the roots.

Is this something to avoid? We are first time buyers so this is all very new to us. We've been looking for a while now and this is the first house we've been really interested in, but we don't want to buy something we will later regret.

Advice from anyone with experience in this sort of thing would be much appreciated.

SG27

I'd question why the owners are going through all the hassle and expense of moving again after just 4 months. Could be more to the dispute, or could be other issues too.

moneyistooshorttomention

I'd think twice and thrice about the house.

I've seen a house pretty much wrecked by nearby conifers.

G_M

3 feet from the house?!! Where do you think the roots are.....?

Excited13

I have two very large conifers in my garden which I am in the process of getting rid of. I'm surprised there has been no neighbour disputes previously as they must be blocking everyone's light.

Regardless of the trees why are the owners wanting to move within 4 months? That would be a big concern form me, have the roots already caused damage or is there something else going on?

jbainbridge

Your possible neighbours don't appear very considerate people ... I wouldn't even think twice.

Kynthia

SG27 wrote: »

I'd question why the owners are going through all the hassle and expense of moving again after just 4 months. Could be more to the dispute, or could be other issues too.

I read it as the OP said the owners of the conifers have been there four months and the owner of the house they want to buy cut them without permission. I don't think there's been any mention of how long their seller has owned the property.

phoebe1989seb

Kynthia wrote: »

I read it as the OP said the owners of the conifers have been there four months and the owner of the house they want to buy cut them without permission. I don't think there's been any mention of how long their seller has owned the property.

That's how I read it too

We've twice been in the position of purchasing a house with a single large conifer (not Leylandii) in the garden and on both counts have had our neighbour petition us virtually the minute we moved in about removing the tree - first time 'cos his wife was fed up with the pines dropping onto the drive (she actually hoovered them up!) and second time as it blocked out sunlight in their garden.

Tbh, whilst I completely agree that they can be hazardous for undermining foundations/blocking out light etc, a promise by a newly moved in resident to remove the offending tree, followed by a failure to do so is no excuse for the neighbour taking things into their own hands. They were probably just too busy with other mire pressing concerns and overlooked their promise to address the tree issue.

That said, three feet from the house is very close......I guess it all depends on how much you like the house and if you offer, how it comes out in a survey etc.....

moneyistooshorttomention

I tend to think that, with goodwill, a new resident of a house can manage to fulfil any promise they have made to remove conifers within weeks. I have only just moved into my new house and no-one has even asked me to remove mine. I've already had them removed and not a trace remains. I think my new neighbours like me:D:rotfl:

lexilex

Thanks for the replies everyone.

The owner has only been in the house for 4 months, sorry if I didn't word my post very well. They want to move 'home', which is a few hours away, due to major health problems. I think they may have also had a relationship breakdown since moving into the house. I was a bit suspect at first. The house sale isn't even listed anywhere, so before viewing as far as I was concerned the owners had been in there years. He was very, very honest with us about everything though (too honest in my opinion!) and it was pretty much the first thing he told us as we walked in the door.

You have all said exactly what I already thought about the conifers. The paving slabs in the garden are already moving.

We just love the house so much, it is so much better than anything we have seen so far. I am going to speak to the estate agent today and see if they can shed any light. I did think about knocking on the neighbours door and seeing what they have to say. What does everyone think, would this be okay?

I_have_spoken

I'd definitely get a winessed commitment from the neighbours to remove the trees and grind out roots (maybe split cost), or walk away from the purchase.

The 15 foot remains will look awful too, leylandii won't green up.