Blue shaded area on land registry - massive tree

silvercar

RichardD1970 wrote: »

Another thing to consider, if you are thinking of removing such a large, well established tree is ground heave.

Basically this is where the tree is no longer using gallons of water, which is then retained by the soil causing it to swell.

https://www.surveyorlocal.co.uk/glossary/ground-heave

This can have major effects on foundations. Hopefully this may have been taken into account when the houses were built and mitigated against.

Totally agree with this. In our old house there was a large oak tree that we had looked after very carefully, having it thinned and pruned every 3 years. A couple of years after we sold the house the new owners asked us if the ground had always been so water logged. Turned out that they had removed the tree soon after buying and the result was a water logged garden.

jonnyd281

PrivateRyan wrote: »

Interesting update (hopefully). According to the LR the boundary line should just touch the back corner of the extension on the neighbours property. However, it doesn't ... they have a path down the side (5ft wide). If i mentally draw a line that touches the back corner of their extension, the tree is absolutely fully on our land.

There is a drop between gardens so it's unlikely whoever built the garage/extension on purpose took the land. The drop means i could never realistically use that 5ft corridor of land.

Helps?

Looking at the two plans posted, neither shows an extension. The first one shows a detached building with a path between the house and the building.

GDB2222

PrivateRyan wrote: »

Wasn't sure how to post images, so hopefully one of the below works. This is something i drew to hopefully help you guys. I'm getting the land registry deeds and will post shortly, assuming one of the below links work.

I have some thoughts for you:

1. Assuming the circle is the tree trunk and your sketch is accurate, the tree lies within your neighbour's property.

2. If it's causing you a lot of stress (quite understandable) you should seek advice from a solicitor. It's possible the tree is causing an actionable nuisance, which means the neighbour may have the cost of trimming it, not you! The solicitor can also advise about TPOs, or at least advise you to speak to the council about that.

I don't think you should get into a major legal fight with your neighbour, and you seem to have approached him reasonably about this. Did he say why the wants to keep the tree intact? You maybe need to come up with a plan to reduce the tree, rather than felling it, so as to try to get him onside.

3. Cutting just one side of the tree strikes me as a really bad idea. If it falls over, it will cause a huge amount of damage.

4. Think about how to fence in your front garden, so your children can play there safely, in the sun, and forget about using the back garden for now.

Unicorn_cottage

I am always staggered when people buy a house which has a large tree in or near the property then the first thing they want to do is cut it down. If you cut it down you will do irreparable damage to your relationship with your neighbour. This tree is obviously 100s of years old and I doubt the tree officer at the council would want it to come down.

PrivateRyan

Thanks everyone. I'm going to get the council Tree Officer out to take a look and advise on what we can/should do with the tree - also to find out for sure if there's an order on it. I'm hoping when he sees the size of the tree he will be sympathetic and at the very least suggest/allow significant pruning.

Next - another chat with neighbour in case there's any confusion. We are looking to prune not remove.

If that fails, a surveyor to confirm who owns the tree.

markin

Are the no measurements on any of the plans or deeds? The must be something on planning permission or more detail.

Who owns and maintains the front hedge?

Hit the Globe button on Google maps to get photos not 3D polygons.

Tom99

PrivateRyan wrote: »

Thanks everyone. I'm going to get the council Tree Officer out to take a look and advise on what we can/should do with the tree - also to find out for sure if there's an order on it. I'm hoping when he sees the size of the tree he will be sympathetic and at the very least suggest/allow significant pruning.

Next - another chat with neighbour in case there's any confusion. We are looking to prune not remove.

If that fails, a surveyor to confirm who owns the tree.

You title plan shows the boundary as a straight line from front to back so if most of your fence, or whatever, is in a straight line just continue that line to the back boundary. Given the size of the tree that line may well divide the trunk!

markin

Tom99 wrote: »

You title plan shows the boundary as a straight line from front to back so if most of your fence, or whatever, is in a straight line just continue that line to the back boundary. Given the size of the tree that line may well divide the trunk!

As the land drops off it may have just been easier to place the fence on flat ground than on the slope, or at the bottom of the slope making the fence shorter.

Also sometimes common to place a new fence fully on your own land not on the line, And then next door take down the original fence gaining land.