Seller cut down listed tree - risk to property?

arbrighton

brazillondon wrote: »

Hello all,

Thank you for the responses. It turns out our solicitors were not aware of the tree being cut down - something I assumed would have been brought up during the searches. After all, had I not had a casual conversation with the neighbour, I wouldn't have known either.

I'm pretty eager to exchange and complete on the house - but at the same time I don't want to knowingly proceed with a risk of the missing tree coming back to bite us. Should we get a tree expert to look at the situation, is this a cost that could be charged to the seller given that it's not an issue we caused?

Thank you

Don't assume things, ask explicitly when it is such a big financial commitment. We specifically asked our surveyor and solicitor to query regarding the septic tank system (over 100 yr old) in our purchase.

The indemnity would only be regarding liability for cutting the tree under a TPO, nothing to do with possible affect on structural soundness. If you want to continue with this house, and are aware of the tree but don't get a report done prior to exchanging, you are essentially accepting it in whatever state so on your head be it if it causes problems later on.

DO NOT EXCHANGE WITHOUT FURTHER ENQUIRIES/ INDEMNITY/ TREE REPORT

Freecall

Davesnave wrote: »

How is the council going to fine you for something you didn't do,

The council is not going to fine anybody. Cutting down a tree which has a TPO in place is a criminal offence under Section 210 of the the Town and Country Planning Act 1990. It would therefore be tried in the Magistrates' Court and the appropriate criminal penalty applied.

http://www.legislation.gov.uk/ukpga/1990/8/section/210

As the OP did not commit the offence however this is not relevant.

What is relevant however is that under Section 207 of the the Town and Country Planning Act 1990 Local Planning Authorities have the power to serve a Tree Replacement Notice on the landowner which requires them to replace any felled or damaged trees. This is a charge on the land and so would have to be complied with by any new owner of the land.

http://www.legislation.gov.uk/ukpga/1990/8/section/207

Each LPA will have it's own policy on what constitutes a suitable 'replacement'. Some will accept a relatively small sapling whereas others require replacements to be semi-mature and therefore very expensive.

The OP should open a dialogue with the LPA.

brazillondon

Thank you for the responses - we won't be exchanging unless we get the reassurance that we are protected against risks to the property due to the act of removing the tree. Building insurance would supposedly protect against such a risk - but the fact is, it's a known issue before purchasing that would probably come back to bite us later down the line.

Is there some kind of indemnity that would cover damage to the property in this scenario? Or is it likely that I'll find myself having to get a tree expert to visit the property and make an assessment? Am currently awaiting to hear back from our solicitors on this.

silvercar

Out of interest, who declared this to you?

brazillondon

Interestingly, this was only brought to our attention in a casual conversation with a neighbour. It's not an issue that has otherwise been brought up during the house purchase process. Through Google Maps we have been able to verify that a tree was indeed there.

As update here: we've now been informed that the council are now aware of the tree having been removed, and are currently prosecuting the seller for removing the tree.

The tree appears to have been about 6-8ft tall, positioned at the side of the driveway, and about 6ft from the front of the property. I'm now reaching out to the team who carried out the home buyers report to get their advise on what this may mean for the property.

Freecall

brazillondon wrote: »

The tree appears to have been about 6-8ft tall,

Really!

With a TPO?

Sounds more like a large bush than a tree.

Hoploz

6-8' tall? A mistake surely. Not much likelihood of structural problems from that!?

Grenage

An 8-foot tree 6 foot from a property would not concern me in the slightest.

Davesnave

Something lost in translation here, I think!

Arthritic_Toe

Freecall wrote: »

Really!

With a TPO?

Sounds more like a large bush than a tree.

Sounds more like a geranium.