Buying first house: Tree Preservation Order

henrygregory

Good morning,

I am interested in buying my first property. In the back garden, there is a tree just to the side of our boundary fence. The estate agent tells me that in the future, we could claim the space to the left of the fence where there is currently a tree.

There is also another tree in the neighbouring garden.

Can anyone tell me if this may cause us an issue in the future? The trees do make the back garden and back side of the house quite dark and I am assuming we would be responsible for the one on the left.

Would this prove costly as I am assuming we could not just have it cut back ourselves, but would need to seek permission? Really don't have any experience in this area.

Thanks in advance. :money:

Rain_Shadow

You are going to get soooo fed up of clearing leaves.

henrygregory

Rain_Shadow wrote: »

You are going to get soooo fed up of clearing leaves.

I had noticed that. Apparently, you can get machines which suck them up.

agrinnall

I'm confused, is the area to the left of the fence part of your garden (in which case the fence is not a boundary)? If the fence really is the boundary then the tree is the responsibility of whoever owns that land, and I don't see how you'd be able to just claim the land, at least for many years. If it is your land and tree then you need to find out if it does have a TPO, if it does then yes, you'll need permission to fell it, if not then you can do what you like. Your local authority's website may have a page to find out whether a tree is protected (mine does).

Miss_Samantha

henrygregory wrote: »

The estate agent tells me that in the future, we could claim the space to the left of the fence where there is currently a tree.

You cannot just 'claim' land that isn't yours...

da_rule

Are both trees subject to an order? If so, you'd just apply to the council to do the work (cut back the branches etc) with a reason why it's needed. They can insist that it is done by a property qualified person.

davidmcn

Your subject line mentions a Tree Preservation Order but your post doesn't - is there one?

You're responsible for the trees on your land, and you need permission to do work to trees which are the subject of a TPO. And if they're not your trees, you'll need to ask whoever the owner is.

I don't know what the story is with the land over the fence, but I would take whatever the agent tells you with a large sack of salt.

henrygregory

agrinnall wrote: »

I'm confused, is the area to the left of the fence part of your garden (in which case the fence is not a boundary)? If the fence really is the boundary then the tree is the responsibility of whoever owns that land, and I don't see how you'd be able to just claim the land, at least for many years. If it is your land and tree then you need to find out if it does have a TPO, if it does then yes, you'll need permission to fell it, if not then you can do what you like. Your local authority's website may have a page to find out whether a tree is protected (mine does).

I have marked the property and respective tree in yellow. It looks like it is not on the land for the property. The estate agent seemed to think the trees did have TPOs on them. As this is a new development, I have struggled to work out which trees have a TPO.



If I use the local authority website, I select No12 which is the older house behind the one I am interested in. The area the house I am interested in is shown just a green area (as it was a wooded area before) and the map has not yet been updated.
It says there are two active TPOs but when I select them, it just brings up a green blob in part of the area for the new housing development.
It does say they are 2x individual oak trees.

da_rule

When you buy the property, the presence of the trees will be highlighted as part of a land charges search which will detail what order number established the protected status. Your solicitor should then be able to obtain a copy of it which will have plans and show you where it is in relation to your property.

I don't understand what your EA is saying about you getting the Land to the left unless he is talking about adverse possession?

henrygregory

da_rule wrote: »

When you buy the property, the presence of the trees will be highlighted as part of a land charges search which will detail what order number established the protected status. Your solicitor should then be able to obtain a copy of it which will have plans and show you where it is in relation to your property.

I don't understand what your EA is saying about you getting the Land to the left unless he is talking about adverse possession?

Thanks, that's very helpful. I am assuming maybe he was saying it to try and make me more interested in going for the place? They have been up for sale since October, and I think they really want to shift them. They are quite close to a motorway so I think quite a few prospective buyers have been put off.

How would adverse possession work? To the left of the house is the tree in question, a small ditch (which does not show on any maps and doesn't look like it has taken any water for a long while) and then a farmer's field, then the motorway.

Fuzzyness

it could be a group TPO where all trees within the green area are protected, rather than each individual tree.