Neighbour's Tree

Forever31

I've checked my insurance details, but I couldn't see anything obvious about trees so I'll need to investigate where my insurance provider stands on this sort of thing.

I have just measured the distance of the tree from my house, and it's approx 9.5m away.   I've just Googled what the safe distance is for a mature beech tree from a house, and according to the Association of British Insurance, it is 15m (but other factors play into this guideline so it's not black and white).

Forever31

Apparently, for a birch tree, it should be 10m away from a property at maximum height.  I thought I should update this thread in case anyone read the above posting.

The birch tree in my neighbours garden is 9.5m away, my house is modern and there doesn't appear to be much clay around here.  So I don't think I should worry about tree roots.

So it's only if the birch tree comes down in the wind. People have said that they generally sway a lot anyway so it's probably more robust than I think.  I just need to check that my insurance will cover this situation if it damages my property - but I suspect they will.

Forever31

After using an identifier app on my phone, it turns out that the tree next door is not a water birch tree, it is a blue gum eucalyptus tree which can grow to 100meters!

I spoke to the neighbour, and we got a tree surgeon out pronto.  Apparently, the tree is ok now, but within 10 years the roots will start to affect the house foundations.  It's not in any particular danger of blowing down atm.  

There is no TPO on the tree.

It will cost 1,200 to take the tree down if it's done now.  I immediately offered to go halves with my neighbour.  However, the neighbours won't pay anything as they say a) they don't have any money, b) they are moving as wife is expecting a third child so they don't feel they have adequate room, and c) there is no immediate need.

The tree surgeon pointed out that I have another potential tree big tree in a garden on the other side of my garden, which is a cedar tree.  At the moment, it's not too big.  But it's too close to my house at approx 13-15m if it continues to grow into a mature tree.

I'm now 50, and I have 13 years to go on the mortgage.  I'm now worried that one of these trees are going to affect the foundations of my house, and it will loose a lot of value.  I will then be trapped in this house.

I do live in a 3 bedroom 3 floored town house with 3 bathrooms.  It certainly has its upsides, but it's a lot of maintenance and housework for only 1 person.  Do I want to keep this up in my sixties and seventies?  The walls are thin in my house so I could end up with noisy neighbours at any time.

So I'm wondering if it's time to think about moving at the beginning of the new year?  I can't 'downsize' money wise unfortunately.  If I get enough for the house, and with a slightly bigger mortgage, I wouldn't mind getting something nicer. Without any big trees <grin>.

On the other hand, I think there are easier ways forward.  I could pay to chop the blue gum tree down, or I could try contacting the council and get them on the case.  Once the family has sold their house, the new owners may get the blue gum tree chopped down immediately so I don't need to do anything.

As for the cedar tree on the other side of my garden, I haven't spoken to the owner yet.  They may see sense and get it chopped down before it gets too big.

What would other people do in this type of situation?

MaryNB

I got house insurance for the first time last year and several of the quotes I got asked about trees of a certain height within a certain distance of the property.

Forever31

MaryNB said:

I got house insurance for the first time last year and several of the quotes I got asked about trees of a certain height within a certain distance of the property.

I have spoken to my insurance company, and they have said that my house is covered for 'collisions', which includes fallen trees.  There is also cover for £1000 pounds towards subsidence related issues. 

But won't subsidence issues cause the value of my home to fall too?

Jeepers_Creepers

Forever31, does your house insurance also include Legal Protection? If so, call them up and relay the situation to them too.

Armed with the tree surgeon's report - 'tree is ok now, but will almost certainly be an issue within 10 years' - they might suggest it's time to 'put the neighbour on notice' of their liability should they allow the tree to grow and it comes down causing damage. It basically means, they KNOW about the situation now, so if they don't do something about it, they can be held directly liable.

Whether this is worth doing, I'm not sure - it would appear that YOU are nicely covered by your insurance should it come down, so you may wish to just let it roll!

But, if you wanted to apply pressure, that's one way - it's a toughie to ignore. And your offer of going halves is very generous - they'd be daft not to take advantage.

If they are 'put on notice', I understand they'd also have to declare this on sale. That's also very sobering...

FreeBear

Forever31 said: After using an identifier app on my phone, it turns out that the tree next door is not a water birch tree, it is a blue gum eucalyptus tree which can grow to 100meters!

Ecualyptus of any type is extremely unlikely to get anywhere near 100m tall in this country. 10-15m would be a more reasonable estimate.

It is a shallow rooting tree, and as such, is liable to fall in high winds if it gets to any reasonable height. The ones I have personal knowledge of that have come down in gales have not been more than about 10m high and relatively young (<25y).

Forever31

Jeepers_Creepers said:

Forever31, does your house insurance also include Legal Protection? If so, call them up and relay the situation to them too.

Armed with the tree surgeon's report - 'tree is ok now, but will almost certainly be an issue within 10 years' - they might suggest it's time to 'put the neighbour on notice' of their liability should they allow the tree to grow and it comes down causing damage. It basically means, they KNOW about the situation now, so if they don't do something about it, they can be held directly liable.

Whether this is worth doing, I'm not sure - it would appear that YOU are nicely covered by your insurance should it come down, so you may wish to just let it roll!

But, if you wanted to apply pressure, that's one way - it's a toughie to ignore. And your offer of going halves is very generous - they'd be daft not to take advantage.

If they are 'put on notice', I understand they'd also have to declare this on sale. That's also very sobering...

That is a good suggestion to contact Legal Protection dept of my insurance company.  I did consider it.

Atm, I am considering moving and if I do, tree worries will be over anyway.    In the short term, I am covered from an insurance point of view.  

If I do move, I will definitely be looking at what type of trees are in the neighbours gardens

Forever31

FreeBear said:

Forever31 said: After using an identifier app on my phone, it turns out that the tree next door is not a water birch tree, it is a blue gum eucalyptus tree which can grow to 100meters!

Ecualyptus of any type is extremely unlikely to get anywhere near 100m tall in this country. 10-15m would be a more reasonable estimate.

It is a shallow rooting tree, and as such, is liable to fall in high winds if it gets to any reasonable height. The ones I have personal knowledge of that have come down in gales have not been more than about 10m high and relatively young (<25y).

That is good news that the ecualyptus is more fragile than I have been led to believe so far.  The tree next door though is already (I hate to guess this) maybe... 30 meters in height. I think the tree does look like it could fall to be honest.  But the tree surgeon said that he didn't think it looked likely to fall.  

MysteryMe

As previously mentioned they have shallow roots which would not be spreading close to a property 10 meters away to cause subsidence.  They do grow quickly so need regular pruning to keep them in check. 100 meters is around a similar height as a 30 storey building.  If you have ever seen a tree in this country, never mind a suburban garden, that high it would be a very rare find indeed.