Hedge trimming, who pays?

Flugelhorn

david29dpo said:

Flugelhorn said:

get it cut back to the boundary and put a fence up on B's land 

They thought about that but the hedge is about 8 feet high so it would still overhang a 6 foot fence

big hedge! 

david29dpo

Yes and stopped cutting the top!

user1977

david29dpo said:

Does anyone have a link to the law please?

Which law? If there's no obligation on the neighbour to cut the other side of the hedge then there's unlikely to be a law saying that, just the absence of one.

david29dpo

I feel a test case coming!

doodling

Hi,

david29dpo said:

Does anyone have a link to the law please?

The short answer is that there isn't any statue law which will answer your question.  The common law presumption is that you are not responsible for natural growth.  You then need to find all the parts of the law, both statute (e.g. the Anti-social Behaviour Act 2003, which contains provisions with respect to high hedges) and common law (e.g. there is a whole body of law around nuisance to neighbouring land) which modifies that presumption.

Or to put it another way, natural growth is not actionable unless you can find a law which says it is in your specific circumstances.

Elliott.T123

david29dpo said:

Does anyone have a link to the law please?

Its the lack of a law that is relevant here rather than an existing law.

For a law to exist in this situation it would need to be explicit that if your hedge grows into a neighbours land you are responsible. The way the law works is to forbid things / apportion responsibility. If there is no explicit law then it is assumed something is allowed / responsibility lies with the land owner / item owner / person physically committing the act.
 

Section62

david29dpo said:

I feel a test case coming!

Much much cheaper to pay someone to cut the hedge once in a while.

user1977

david29dpo said:

I feel a test case coming!

What would be the legal basis for such a case? Courts don't just make stuff up based on the story put in front of them.

Section62

user1977 said:

david29dpo said:

I feel a test case coming!

What would be the legal basis for such a case? Courts don't just make stuff up based on the story put in front of them.

Must be a human rights angle somewhere in there?  The government failing to protect people from the harmful effects of neighbour's encroaching hedges?

caprikid1

Section62 said:

david29dpo said:

I feel a test case coming!

Much much cheaper to pay someone to cut the hedge once in a while.

Wow you must have really deep pockets !, do you know what level of court you would need to get to in order to get a test case of any value ?

You do realise that if you then achieved judgement that they should pay you would then have to pay to enforce it ?

You are a solicitors / barristers dream.