Neighbour's tree

noelphobic

I know there's already a thread on here about a neighbour's tree but my situation is different and I'm hoping someone can give me some advice.

I live in a privately owned terraced house but the house next door to me belongs to a housing association. I have a flat roofed ground floor extension. There is a tree in the neighbour's garden which is right next to the extension and is now growing quite high, with the branches overhanging my flat roof.

I am worried in case the roots damage my property and also think that i will end up with my light blocked and if any branches fell from the tree they could damage my roof.

The neighbour is extremely reserved. Doesn't speak to anyone and never has visitors. She has said that I can cut the overhanging branches back and put them in the garden, which I understand is the law in broad terms. However, in order to do this I would have to climb on my roof and I have a fear of heights.

Also, I wouldn't be able to attack the roots from my roof and think I read somewhere that your insurance can be affected if you have a tree too close to your property.

I have been in touch with the housing association but they keep changing their mind about what they will or won't do about it. They looked at the tree from my side months ago and took some photos. It was in the winter so the tree was quite baldy but my gutters had been full of leaves. They said they would write to her to ask her to trim it and if she didn't respond they would send someone out and bill her.

Then they said they wouldn't. Then they said they would. Now they are saying that they won't and the last person I spoke to left a voicemail yesterday to that effect and is refusing to speak to me today.

Any advice other than to bite the bullet and pay someone to sort the tree out?

TBagpuss

Have all of your communications been by phone? If so, it may be worth writing to them.

Be specific about your concerns, (e.g. risk of damage to your property from roots and overhanging branches). Tell them the date you teklephone,d, and the name of the person you spoke to and that they told you that they would be taking steps.

Ask them to confirm that they will be carrying out the work as agreed, and to let you know when they / their contractor will be attending so that you can facilitate access.

State that you expect them to carry out the work as stated but that in the event that they have now changed their position, ask them to confirm their current position, and why this has changed.

I am not sure that simply having branches overhanging would in itself be seen as dangerous - do you have any reason to think that the tree is damaged or unhealthy?

Risk of root damage is likely to depend on the type of tree as well as how close it is - if you think it presents a current risk to your property hen you may need to get a report (I'm not sure whether this would need to be from a surveyor, or a tree surgeon!) and could then send a copy to the HA to out them on notice that they are causing a nuisance.

WestonDave

Obviously if you can get the housing association to sort it then all well and good but in reality if its not likely to be a danger then they won't spend time and money on a healthy tree just because you don't like it.


I appreciate you have a fear of heights and in any event most flat roof constructions aren't designed to take a human weight. Depending on the total height and the age of the tree it may be possible to take branches down using a long pole pruner. I've got one of these - http://www.wilko.com/hand-tools/wilko-get-gardening-tree-pruner-28m/invt/0210310 which you can either use to chop smaller branches using the rope pull device or you can use the attached saw to cut through thicker branches - all whilst standing firmly on the ground (I also can't do heights!). You may be able to take enough of the bulk out of the tree to firstly allow light through and also reduce the sail effect of the branches so it is less likely to be damaged in high winds.

adouglasmhor

Most but not all deciduous trees have a root system 60% to 80% larger than the crown. put a wine glass on a tea plate and that's the rough proportion of crown to root.

There are specialist surveyors who deal with tree, stump and root issues.

noelphobic

adouglasmhor wrote: »

Most but not all deciduous trees have a root system 60% to 80% larger than the crown. put a wine glass on a tea plate and that's the rough proportion of crown to root.

There are specialist surveyors who deal with tree, stump and root issues.

does that mean that the roots are likely to cause damage?

The annoying thing about this is that my neighbour on the other side spoke to her some time ago and offered to trim the tree. She denied even having one!

Also annoyed that the housing association are maintaining that the tree is not diseased or dangerous. I think it's highly unlikely that they've been in her garden to see the tree. I know they have had trouble in the past in gaining access to her property. There were stickers left on her front door a while ago because she wasn't giving them access to do their boiler check.

noelphobic

TBagpuss wrote: »

I am not sure that simply having branches overhanging would in itself be seen as dangerous - do you have any reason to think that the tree is damaged or unhealthy?

Risk of root damage is likely to depend on the type of tree as well as how close it is - if you think it presents a current risk to your property hen you may need to get a report (I'm not sure whether this would need to be from a surveyor, or a tree surgeon!) and could then send a copy to the HA to out them on notice that they are causing a nuisance.

I don't have any reason to believe it is diseased but the housing association are saying it isn't without even having inspected it.

The tree is extremely close to my house, almost touching the walls. I wouldn't be too worried if it was further away.

The neighbour did used to garden at the front of her property but hasn't done that lately and it is becoming quite overgrown. I'm not too bothered about that though and trimming back anything that is hanging over into my garden would be really easy.

I can imagine that some of the neighbours might become concerned about the amount of overhang onto the pavement. The pavement and road is very narrow and most people park partially on the pavement. This reduces the amount of room for people to walk on the pavement. The same neighbour never puts any rubbish or recycling out and 2 of her wheelie bins have been permanently left on the pavement, causing an obstruction.

She is quite elderly but walks down the road extremely quickly. If she was unable to do the gardening herself then I would be sympathetic and would try to help or even pay towards her getting work done. My gardener is very reasonable and a hard worker but he is 70 so think climbing on the roof might be a bit much for him. On the plus side he is very skinny so would be less likely to cause damage to the roof than I would! :rotfl:

cyclonebri1

noelphobic wrote: »

I know there's already a thread on here about a neighbour's tree but my situation is different and I'm hoping someone can give me some advice.

I live in a privately owned terraced house but the house next door to me belongs to a housing association. I have a flat roofed ground floor extension. There is a tree in the neighbour's garden which is right next to the extension and is now growing quite high, with the branches overhanging my flat roof.

I am worried in case the roots damage my property and also think that i will end up with my light blocked and if any branches fell from the tree they could damage my roof.

The neighbour is extremely reserved. Doesn't speak to anyone and never has visitors. She has said that I can cut the overhanging branches back and put them in the garden, which I understand is the law in broad terms. However, in order to do this I would have to climb on my roof and I have a fear of heights.

Also, I wouldn't be able to attack the roots from my roof and think I read somewhere that your insurance can be affected if you have a tree too close to your property.

I have been in touch with the housing association but they keep changing their mind about what they will or won't do about it. They looked at the tree from my side months ago and took some photos. It was in the winter so the tree was quite baldy but my gutters had been full of leaves. They said they would write to her to ask her to trim it and if she didn't respond they would send someone out and bill her.

Then they said they wouldn't. Then they said they would. Now they are saying that they won't and the last person I spoke to left a voicemail yesterday to that effect and is refusing to speak to me today.

Any advice other than to bite the bullet and pay someone to sort the tree out?

If she is allowing you to cut it back and leave the branches in her garden, then take her up on the offer. In law you have to offer them back but she doesn't have to accept them leaving you to dispose of them.

If you are that worried why not offer to have the tree completely stumped at your cost, that may well be the best option all round as she doesn't use the garden and the leaves must fall her side too.

You need to identify the tree for much more advice/views;);)

bouicca21

All sorts of factors impact the possibilities - the mot obvious being the type of soil and type of tree. Remember you can cause more trouble by removing a tree, because of the potential heave factor. To set your mind at rest - or confirm your fears - you probably need a professional opinion.

noelphobic

cyclonebri1 wrote: »

If she is allowing you to cut it back and leave the branches in her garden, then take her up on the offer. In law you have to offer them back but she doesn't have to accept them leaving you to dispose of them.

If you are that worried why not offer to have the tree completely stumped at your cost, that may well be the best option all round as she doesn't use the garden and the leaves must fall her side too.

You need to identify the tree for much more advice/views;);)

She won't allow access to the property and I had another look at it today. If I used some kind of long pruners then I would still have the problem of the branches being left on the roof and would have to get up there to dispose of them anyway.

I do have photos but don't know how to upload them onto here. Can anyone help on that please?

noelphobic

bouicca21 wrote: »

All sorts of factors impact the possibilities - the mot obvious being the type of soil and type of tree. Remember you can cause more trouble by removing a tree, because of the potential heave factor. To set your mind at rest - or confirm your fears - you probably need a professional opinion.

Yes, would be a good idea. However, I'm assuming that if I got anyone to look at it then they would need to access her property, which she won't allow.

https://lh6.googleusercontent.com/dy-e7CveY2IF2Ke4DgxBY1VkXfdjGXmewBuk5v15E6U=s197-p-no

not sure if that link will work.

27col

I feel that I have to ask. Which was there first, the tree or the extension.