Neighbour's tree close to collapsing into our property.

Smevchenko

Our Neighbour's house is in a terrible state. He is very old, and takes no care of his property. We have an ongoing complaint regarding a water leak which is his responsibility to sort out. He will not answer his door, so we cannot speak to him.

He has a tall (~30ft) conifer tree in his back garden that has broken through a fence panel and is leaning considerably towards our property. I have real concern that this tree will fall at some point, and based on the current angle, it may fall into our conservatory. We obviously want to take preventative steps, but unsure what action we cant take. Have spoken to the council, and awaiting a call back, but they have said it is unlikely they can do anything due to it being a private property. They are already trying to get him to address the water leak, so not confident anything can be done quickly regarding the tree. Other than trespassing onto his property to bring the tree down (which would involve a tree surgeon who was willing to do this), what else can we do if the neighbour will not sort out the problem?

daivid

Is the water leak directly affecting your house? Are your houses attached? Involving your home insurance may help you get the issue resolved if they feel it is relevant to them.

TELLIT01

You are entitled to cut back any tree growth which is overhanging your boundary line.  If you have a tree surgeon available to do the job I would get on with it before it has the chance to cause damage.