Recent house purchase - intentionally misled about garden

cymruchris

As others have said - no real chance of any comeback - particularly a year after you've bought it. It may be that they didn't know they were so badly damaged. Yes - they might have had some bonfires - but if you didn't notice it for a year - they might not have had any major cause for concern either. Aside from some blackened bark - they might not have really considered it to be any kind of emergency or danger that needed addressing. (And if it was - surely you'd have spotted it just after buying it?) What's obvious to some people will go straight over the heads of some people. £3-4k to cut down a few trees seems excessive though, are they using gold plated saws? A neighbour recently had a tree cut down and removed by a local tree surgeon for a couple of hundred pounds. You might want to shop around a bit  

Woolsery

I agree with cymruchris above. The time for due diligence was before exchange, not a year on and you have no way of proving the bamboo was planted with the intent to cover up a problem. It's not like bamboo is uncommon in gardens.

These things happen. We had several similar problems, and worse, not spotted because we bought a very overgrown property covering some acres and physical inspection of certain outdoor areas was extremely difficult. Like you, we couldn't establish what was known to the vendor and we decided none of the matters which came to light warranted a complaint. We considered  the cost of remedying problems found was reflected in the price we paid and that's always the crux of issues like this.

Bendy_House

At only ~£25 pa, I'd consider Leg Prot a 'must'.

Almost certainly it wouldn't help you in this instance, tho', at least not beyond CONFIRMING that they wouldn't take action!*

I'd still recommend adding it, tho'.

Even before you do, there's a good chance you can call them up for just 'advice' - ie WOULD you have some come-back on this? Is it WORTH trying?

Good chance they'll give you an answer. And higher chance it'll be 'Non!'.

I can't see any realistic way that you could have a claim against the previous owner, at least not without some way of evidencing that they knew about the damage, the risk, the danger, and chose to cover it up. What would that take? I dunno - a neighbour who knew that this was happening, perhaps was concerned, and is happy to 'spill'?

So, if you find one, then add this to the Q to ask your insurance cover, tho' - as I suggested - it's unlikely they'll take the case 'cos it's a pre-existing condition.

As Wooley says, get some more quotes!


*In-laws had an issue with a neighb on a new estate parking their huge caravan outside their property in breach of covenants. She didn't have LP, but they still discussed the issue with her - to confirm they wouldn't have taken on such a case regardless. At least she knew! And, if they say "Yes, that seems a clear case where we are confident of a win - we WOULD take it on", then you'll know it could be worth a civil action by yourself. But, I suspect that won't be the case...

Woolsery

Bendy_House said:

As Wooley says, get some more quotes!

I didn't, that was chris, but I agree. 7 poplars down chipped and basic logged in a day here for £1200.

tooldle

It does depend on the state of the tree. If the trees are in poor condition, the task is much harder if we are talking about well established trees. If the trees are really dangerous as the OP implies, the tree surgeons are unlikely to climb and will bring the tree down with machinery. 

elsien

I’m not surprised at the cost. We had to have a huge oak tree cut down about 10 years ago, and the people on the cheaper end of the spectrum didn’t want to touch it. Ended up going with a council recommended contractor who had the right equipment and could ensure it wasn’t going to land on the hose. Was over £500 then if I remember rightly. 

caprikid1

I think that you have twigged now that you will need to stump up to pay for them to felled, whilst the previous owners leafed them in a poor condition I think you are barking up the wrong tree if you think you can pursue them. The root of the matter here is a lack of due diligence by yourself unfortunately. Any attempt to sap some money out of them will be futile, I appreciate it is frustrating that your nest egg is being bored into for this.

movilogo

Do the trees have protection order? If yes, it should have flagged during searches.
You don't have to cut them unless they present a danger to neighbors, public or your own house. 
Cutting down and removal or large trees is costly, unfortunately. 
Having said that, surely you have noticed existence of these trees during viewing? I assume you saw the house at least twice if not more?

Olinda99

Be careful with your Insurance company or you will have bigger problems.

Definitely don't call them and ask anything - they may cancel the policy and then for the rest of your life you with have to reply 'yes' to the question 'have you ever had an insurance policy cancelled'.

Get the trees down as soon as possible.

jimbog

With more and more people already looking for logs to buy before the horrific prices for fuel this winter you may have just found yourself a number of money trees