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Advice on neighbours trees (again!)

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  • Swasterix
    Swasterix Posts: 347 Forumite
    Seventh Anniversary 100 Posts Name Dropper
    M00nface said:
    Swasterix said:
    Absolutely being too nice.

    I wouldn't wait two either either.

    I would email him again next with much firmer with exactly what you want done.

    Don't dance around the problem with "ideally" etc.

    "Tree x requires x to be done. We now require this is now done by x date. As a branch has already landed on a person and caused injury it is of huge concern that this could happen again.

    We will pursue any costs for damages caused by these trees is this issue is not resolved.

    As it's now been x months since this was brought to your attention, please let me know the date you have these works booked in for."


    Not meaning to sound awful at all, but if I received a communication worded like this from my neighbours, I would tell them to get stuffed.  

    Presumably the tree/trees have been there for some time, possibly since before OP owned the house? Obviously trees grow and require pruning from time to time. Would have taken little research to find out where the responsibility lies before it had gotten out of hand. 

    Regardless, OP is well within her rights to cut the trees back to the boundary, but it is their cost to bear. The neighbour is under no obligation to bear any cost or arrange anything whatsoever. Fair or not, that’s the way it is.

    By all means continue to communicate with your neighbour. They may eventually get round to doing something, but it’s pointless getting their back up with snarky emails or letters. In the mean time, I’d start making arrangements to have somebody deal with the branches overhanging your side. 

    Edit to add: having re-read OPs post, I’ve realised that they have just recently moved in. The trees must have been of a similar size at the time of purchase. Had you done a little basic research at that time, you would have been able to take a view on whether it was worth proceeding with your purchase given the amount of hassle you might have. Obviously that doesn’t help now, and I’m sorry. 

    My advice remains as above. Arrange for the trees to be cut back at your cost. Meanwhile, keep the pressure up on your neighbour, but be nice. He may just get sick of you and take action. It might be helpful if you were to offer to share the cost as a sweetener, given that sadly for you he’s under no obligation to do anything. 

    I do hope you manage to get a result!
    When we view the house it wasn't at the time of year when the trees were in full bloom so we didn't realise how are they were. Regardless if we knew this woulsnt have affected us proceeding with the purchase as we would have done so anyway.
     It wouldn't have been a sale killer for us. We are only trying to see if there is anything that can be done at this point. The people who lived here before didn't use the back garden at all apart from somwhere for their dog to toilet. I don't think they realised the concerns of the trees themselves.

    The neighbour also doesn't live at the property and I don't think I've seen them there since we moved in, I don't think they realise themselves how large the trees are and potentially any issues, this is why we're trying to make him aware of this,I don't think the previous owners did.
    I don't think either party were aware or cared before this point.

    If nothing is done then so be it, I'm just seeing if anything can be done and where we stand. A lot of people are saying I need to be less "nice" and others stay nice so I'm not really sure 😂
    I’m not too sure about anyone else, and suppose it depends on the individual, but I’m speaking from experience from the other side of the argument. 

    I have a large horse chestnut tree at the bottom of my garden. It’s a lovely thing. It was there long before my house, or the house behind was built. A new couple bought the house to the rear (like you, in autumn time). Come the spring, when the tree was in leaf, they came to the house shouting the odds at my wife and demanding that we cut the tree down (we can’t anyway, it has a TPO). I politely (not) told them to get lost. They could trim the tree to the boundary, nothing more, and would do so at their own cost. Had they taken a different attitude, then I would have been more accommodating. I wouldn’t have chopped the tree down, but I would have contributed to the cost of having it thinned out. It blows my mind that the couple in question could obviously see it was there before purchasing, but gave no though whatsoever to the reality of what was right in front of them.

    Despite what others have said further up the thread, what I had said earlier is correct. You cannot force your neighbour to do anything with the trees. The only chance you have is by gaining your neighbours agreement. With this in mind, you need to be very careful not to annoy your neighbour to the point where they tell you to politely (or not) get lost. So- you’re pretty much walking a tightrope to gain your neighbours agreement, not be too much of a pushover, and not be so forceful that the don’t want to know. Difficult, yeah! Which is why I suggested offering a financial incentive may help. 

    From a legal standpoint, the only way that your neighbour could be compelled to act is if the tree was dangerous, diseased or caused damage to person or property. Even then, I assume that it could potentially be very expensive to get a result (legal things always are), and it’s not enough for you to say it’s dangerous, etc. You would need to pay an arborist/consultant to say that it was. Also, expensive. 

    So the answer as always is to be pragmatic. Don’t let it get to the dangerous/damaging stage. In the autumn, do what you can from your side of the boundary to prevent damage to your property (at your cost). Once you get on top of it, it will only need to be done periodically. Continue to speak with your neighbour about the possibility of him taking action. If necessary, offer to contribute to the costs. If you still get nowhere, you may have no choice but to offer to pay for it. 

    The above may not be fair. But I’m afraid it’s the reality of the situation. 

    A little light reading for you, there’s plenty more in depth if you take to google;

    https://www.rhs.org.uk/advice/profile?pid=1022
  • Absolutely being too nice.

    I wouldn't wait two either either.

    I would email him again next with much firmer with exactly what you want done.

    Don't dance around the problem with "ideally" etc.

    "Tree x requires x to be done. We now require this is now done by x date. As a branch has already landed on a person and caused injury it is of huge concern that this could happen again.

    We will pursue any costs for damages caused by these trees is this issue is not resolved.

    As it's now been x months since this was brought to your attention, please let me know the date you have these works booked in for."


    I can only say what I would do if a neighbour had that kind of attitude. It would be war (!) What else would you expect with threats to sue me before saying to much as "hello" ?

    As someone else said, my understanding is you can prune the tree to the boundary. I don't think the owner of the tree could be at fault for lack of maintenance on your side.

    I think the softly softly approach of the OP is right as s/he might then be more willing to help - or maybe not. You just don't know what their financial situation or time pressures are.

    Surely the best would be for you or your tree surgeon to cut them back to the boundary (and maybe a bit more if you gain agreement from you neighbour)
  • M00nface
    M00nface Posts: 56 Forumite
    Third Anniversary 10 Posts Name Dropper
    Swasterix said:
    M00nface said:
    Swasterix said:
    Absolutely being too nice.

    I wouldn't wait two either either.

    I would email him again next with much firmer with exactly what you want done.

    Don't dance around the problem with "ideally" etc.

    "Tree x requires x to be done. We now require this is now done by x date. As a branch has already landed on a person and caused injury it is of huge concern that this could happen again.

    We will pursue any costs for damages caused by these trees is this issue is not resolved.

    As it's now been x months since this was brought to your attention, please let me know the date you have these works booked in for."


    Not meaning to sound awful at all, but if I received a communication worded like this from my neighbours, I would tell them to get stuffed.  

    Presumably the tree/trees have been there for some time, possibly since before OP owned the house? Obviously trees grow and require pruning from time to time. Would have taken little research to find out where the responsibility lies before it had gotten out of hand. 

    Regardless, OP is well within her rights to cut the trees back to the boundary, but it is their cost to bear. The neighbour is under no obligation to bear any cost or arrange anything whatsoever. Fair or not, that’s the way it is.

    By all means continue to communicate with your neighbour. They may eventually get round to doing something, but it’s pointless getting their back up with snarky emails or letters. In the mean time, I’d start making arrangements to have somebody deal with the branches overhanging your side. 

    Edit to add: having re-read OPs post, I’ve realised that they have just recently moved in. The trees must have been of a similar size at the time of purchase. Had you done a little basic research at that time, you would have been able to take a view on whether it was worth proceeding with your purchase given the amount of hassle you might have. Obviously that doesn’t help now, and I’m sorry. 

    My advice remains as above. Arrange for the trees to be cut back at your cost. Meanwhile, keep the pressure up on your neighbour, but be nice. He may just get sick of you and take action. It might be helpful if you were to offer to share the cost as a sweetener, given that sadly for you he’s under no obligation to do anything. 

    I do hope you manage to get a result!
    When we view the house it wasn't at the time of year when the trees were in full bloom so we didn't realise how are they were. Regardless if we knew this woulsnt have affected us proceeding with the purchase as we would have done so anyway.
     It wouldn't have been a sale killer for us. We are only trying to see if there is anything that can be done at this point. The people who lived here before didn't use the back garden at all apart from somwhere for their dog to toilet. I don't think they realised the concerns of the trees themselves.

    The neighbour also doesn't live at the property and I don't think I've seen them there since we moved in, I don't think they realise themselves how large the trees are and potentially any issues, this is why we're trying to make him aware of this,I don't think the previous owners did.
    I don't think either party were aware or cared before this point.

    If nothing is done then so be it, I'm just seeing if anything can be done and where we stand. A lot of people are saying I need to be less "nice" and others stay nice so I'm not really sure 😂
    I’m not too sure about anyone else, and suppose it depends on the individual, but I’m speaking from experience from the other side of the argument. 

    I have a large horse chestnut tree at the bottom of my garden. It’s a lovely thing. It was there long before my house, or the house behind was built. A new couple bought the house to the rear (like you, in autumn time). Come the spring, when the tree was in leaf, they came to the house shouting the odds at my wife and demanding that we cut the tree down (we can’t anyway, it has a TPO). I politely (not) told them to get lost. They could trim the tree to the boundary, nothing more, and would do so at their own cost. Had they taken a different attitude, then I would have been more accommodating. I wouldn’t have chopped the tree down, but I would have contributed to the cost of having it thinned out. It blows my mind that the couple in question could obviously see it was there before purchasing, but gave no though whatsoever to the reality of what was right in front of them.

    Despite what others have said further up the thread, what I had said earlier is correct. You cannot force your neighbour to do anything with the trees. The only chance you have is by gaining your neighbours agreement. With this in mind, you need to be very careful not to annoy your neighbour to the point where they tell you to politely (or not) get lost. So- you’re pretty much walking a tightrope to gain your neighbours agreement, not be too much of a pushover, and not be so forceful that the don’t want to know. Difficult, yeah! Which is why I suggested offering a financial incentive may help. 

    From a legal standpoint, the only way that your neighbour could be compelled to act is if the tree was dangerous, diseased or caused damage to person or property. Even then, I assume that it could potentially be very expensive to get a result (legal things always are), and it’s not enough for you to say it’s dangerous, etc. You would need to pay an arborist/consultant to say that it was. Also, expensive. 

    So the answer as always is to be pragmatic. Don’t let it get to the dangerous/damaging stage. In the autumn, do what you can from your side of the boundary to prevent damage to your property (at your cost). Once you get on top of it, it will only need to be done periodically. Continue to speak with your neighbour about the possibility of him taking action. If necessary, offer to contribute to the costs. If you still get nowhere, you may have no choice but to offer to pay for it. 

    The above may not be fair. But I’m afraid it’s the reality of the situation. 

    A little light reading for you, there’s plenty more in depth if you take to google;

    https://www.rhs.org.uk/advice/profile?pid=1022
    One tree branch has already fallen not far from where I was in my garden one time, neighbour is also renting to a family with children who play in the garden a lot and could also happen to them one day. Woulsnt say dangerous but as the tree has already been made aware r to him if this were to happen or does fall on me or the neighbours cpuld this not be negligence?

    Again damage was caused to pur property re subsidence or damage to roof and I have made him aware could this not be negligence? There's a conifer in a neighbours garden down the road which it's roots have pretty much dug up the pavement itself and I'm worried something similar could happen to our foundations with it being so close to our house.

    You have a point, I don't want to be nasty to him and wouldn't want a bad relationship with the neighbour and I honestly don't think he's going to do anything about it. He doesn't live there and doesn't maintain the grounds really I don't think he'd care much if the trees were there or not and probably doesn't really give a s###.

    I may look at quotes for tree cutting or removal and see if we contribute costs if he's willing to go ahead with it as that might permanently resolve the issue once and for all rather than have a tree surgeon to have to come and do it every so often which may end up being more costly over time.


    Or the old copper nail trick..... 😉
  • unforeseen
    unforeseen Posts: 7,381 Forumite
    Part of the Furniture 1,000 Posts Photogenic Name Dropper
    Or the old copper nail trick.

    You gotta love the old myths 
  • Swasterix
    Swasterix Posts: 347 Forumite
    Seventh Anniversary 100 Posts Name Dropper
    edited 9 August 2021 at 10:22AM
    M00nface said:
    Swasterix said:
    M00nface said:
    Swasterix said:
    Absolutely being too nice.

    I wouldn't wait two either either.

    I would email him again next with much firmer with exactly what you want done.

    Don't dance around the problem with "ideally" etc.

    "Tree x requires x to be done. We now require this is now done by x date. As a branch has already landed on a person and caused injury it is of huge concern that this could happen again.

    We will pursue any costs for damages caused by these trees is this issue is not resolved.

    As it's now been x months since this was brought to your attention, please let me know the date you have these works booked in for."


    Not meaning to sound awful at all, but if I received a communication worded like this from my neighbours, I would tell them to get stuffed.  

    Presumably the tree/trees have been there for some time, possibly since before OP owned the house? Obviously trees grow and require pruning from time to time. Would have taken little research to find out where the responsibility lies before it had gotten out of hand. 

    Regardless, OP is well within her rights to cut the trees back to the boundary, but it is their cost to bear. The neighbour is under no obligation to bear any cost or arrange anything whatsoever. Fair or not, that’s the way it is.

    By all means continue to communicate with your neighbour. They may eventually get round to doing something, but it’s pointless getting their back up with snarky emails or letters. In the mean time, I’d start making arrangements to have somebody deal with the branches overhanging your side. 

    Edit to add: having re-read OPs post, I’ve realised that they have just recently moved in. The trees must have been of a similar size at the time of purchase. Had you done a little basic research at that time, you would have been able to take a view on whether it was worth proceeding with your purchase given the amount of hassle you might have. Obviously that doesn’t help now, and I’m sorry. 

    My advice remains as above. Arrange for the trees to be cut back at your cost. Meanwhile, keep the pressure up on your neighbour, but be nice. He may just get sick of you and take action. It might be helpful if you were to offer to share the cost as a sweetener, given that sadly for you he’s under no obligation to do anything. 

    I do hope you manage to get a result!
    When we view the house it wasn't at the time of year when the trees were in full bloom so we didn't realise how are they were. Regardless if we knew this woulsnt have affected us proceeding with the purchase as we would have done so anyway.
     It wouldn't have been a sale killer for us. We are only trying to see if there is anything that can be done at this point. The people who lived here before didn't use the back garden at all apart from somwhere for their dog to toilet. I don't think they realised the concerns of the trees themselves.

    The neighbour also doesn't live at the property and I don't think I've seen them there since we moved in, I don't think they realise themselves how large the trees are and potentially any issues, this is why we're trying to make him aware of this,I don't think the previous owners did.
    I don't think either party were aware or cared before this point.

    If nothing is done then so be it, I'm just seeing if anything can be done and where we stand. A lot of people are saying I need to be less "nice" and others stay nice so I'm not really sure 😂
    I’m not too sure about anyone else, and suppose it depends on the individual, but I’m speaking from experience from the other side of the argument. 

    I have a large horse chestnut tree at the bottom of my garden. It’s a lovely thing. It was there long before my house, or the house behind was built. A new couple bought the house to the rear (like you, in autumn time). Come the spring, when the tree was in leaf, they came to the house shouting the odds at my wife and demanding that we cut the tree down (we can’t anyway, it has a TPO). I politely (not) told them to get lost. They could trim the tree to the boundary, nothing more, and would do so at their own cost. Had they taken a different attitude, then I would have been more accommodating. I wouldn’t have chopped the tree down, but I would have contributed to the cost of having it thinned out. It blows my mind that the couple in question could obviously see it was there before purchasing, but gave no though whatsoever to the reality of what was right in front of them.

    Despite what others have said further up the thread, what I had said earlier is correct. You cannot force your neighbour to do anything with the trees. The only chance you have is by gaining your neighbours agreement. With this in mind, you need to be very careful not to annoy your neighbour to the point where they tell you to politely (or not) get lost. So- you’re pretty much walking a tightrope to gain your neighbours agreement, not be too much of a pushover, and not be so forceful that the don’t want to know. Difficult, yeah! Which is why I suggested offering a financial incentive may help. 

    From a legal standpoint, the only way that your neighbour could be compelled to act is if the tree was dangerous, diseased or caused damage to person or property. Even then, I assume that it could potentially be very expensive to get a result (legal things always are), and it’s not enough for you to say it’s dangerous, etc. You would need to pay an arborist/consultant to say that it was. Also, expensive. 

    So the answer as always is to be pragmatic. Don’t let it get to the dangerous/damaging stage. In the autumn, do what you can from your side of the boundary to prevent damage to your property (at your cost). Once you get on top of it, it will only need to be done periodically. Continue to speak with your neighbour about the possibility of him taking action. If necessary, offer to contribute to the costs. If you still get nowhere, you may have no choice but to offer to pay for it. 

    The above may not be fair. But I’m afraid it’s the reality of the situation. 

    A little light reading for you, there’s plenty more in depth if you take to google;

    https://www.rhs.org.uk/advice/profile?pid=1022
    One tree branch has already fallen not far from where I was in my garden one time, neighbour is also renting to a family with children who play in the garden a lot and could also happen to them one day. Woulsnt say dangerous but as the tree has already been made aware r to him if this were to happen or does fall on me or the neighbours cpuld this not be negligence?

    Again damage was caused to pur property re subsidence or damage to roof and I have made him aware could this not be negligence? There's a conifer in a neighbours garden down the road which it's roots have pretty much dug up the pavement itself and I'm worried something similar could happen to our foundations with it being so close to our house.

    You have a point, I don't want to be nasty to him and wouldn't want a bad relationship with the neighbour and I honestly don't think he's going to do anything about it. He doesn't live there and doesn't maintain the grounds really I don't think he'd care much if the trees were there or not and probably doesn't really give a s###.

    I may look at quotes for tree cutting or removal and see if we contribute costs if he's willing to go ahead with it as that might permanently resolve the issue once and for all rather than have a tree surgeon to have to come and do it every so often which may end up being more costly over time.


    Or the old copper nail trick..... 😉
    Sometimes branches fall from trees. You’d have to be pretty unlucky to be hit and badly injured by one, but I’m sure it happens. Playing devils advocate and turning around what you’ve said- Nobody has been hurt by the tree yet, but you’ve had a close call and you know it is within your power to prevent anybody being injured on your property. 

    Since you suspect your neighbour won’t do anything, let’s focus on what you can do….

    At the earliest opportunity, take steps to make your property “safe” ie. arrange for overhanging branches to be cut. Your neighbours safety is not your responsibility nor concern. Your conscience is clear. It’s not really relevant to you. It’s up to them to deal with that if they are concerned, or deal with the consequences if not. 

    Now, once you’ve dealt with the imminent threat of falling branches and blocked gutters, we can consider your longer term concerns about subsidence etc. We agree that the neighbour is unlikely to do anything, you can only do what is in your power. You have a number of options;

    1. Keep pressuring him, see if he breaks
    2. Offer to contribute to the costs off having the trees felled - 
    3. Offer to pay to have the trees felled. 
    4. Pay for somebody to carry out a tree survey to gauge the likelihood of any damage (a friend had one done recently, was ~£500), and possibly go down the litigation route.
    5. Do nothing, see what happens. Deal with any issues around subsidence, drains, etc.  if/when they happen

    Option 1 is preferred, unlikely, but worth a try
    Options 2 and 3 are at a cost to you, but deal with the issue, and prevent involving insurance/lawyers
    Options 4 and 5 would likely be very expensive, stressful and protracted involving lawyers and insurance companies. To be avoided at all costs. 

    The conclusion is that you can only do what is in your power, you cant force your neighbour to do what you want them to do. You need to consider what you can do, and then do it. 
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