Thoughts on buying a house with a large tree nearby?

ragdoll

Am after peoples opinions and experiences of owning a house with a large tree nearby. We have seen a house that we like, ticks most of the boxes but the down side is there is a large oak tree directly behind it. It is not in the garden of the property but just behind the fence in the neighbours garden. I would guess that the tree is about 40 ft from the back of the house, the garden faces north so it will cause less shadow than if it was south facing.

Mozette

I've got several large trees closer than that to my house. Not a bother - well, the leaves are a pain in Autumn, but I like trees. Not a sun worshipper though, so if you're bothered about shade, go & visit the house on a bright day (if you can find one!) at the sort of time you'd be using the garden.

silvercar

we had an oak tree about 20 foot into our back garden. The tree was there a long time before the house so I presume the foundations were built with the strength of tree in mind. We did keep it well pruned. Lived there for 14 years with no structural problems.

Strapped

The only issue you might have is whether your neighbours keep it pruned. We had one just the other side of the fence at our last house, on common land, and we had to pay to have some branches removed before the council finally thinned it out properly a few years later. I liked it though. (Buy a leaf-blower )

ragdoll

Thanks for all your thoughts so far, we have a leaf blower already and am thinking of checking with the council to see if it has a TPO and also knocking on the door of the tree owner and seeing if they keep it pruned or how they would feel if we did.

PasturesNew

It'd worry me in strong winds.

I look at trees and think two things:
1] If that falls over will it land on the house
2] If it would reach the house, then its roots are probably under the house already

HammersFan

We have a lime about 8 metres behind our property, its at least 100ft tall and to the west. Its a lovely feature I think, casting a nice shadow at the bottom end of the garden in midday sun and sheilding the house in the evening. The survey we had done on the house suggested that it was not a problem at all. A tree surgeon pruned it not long after we moved in since it had been neglected - he said it would need proper pruning every 8 years or so. It has a TPO on it but we got permission for some fairly heavy pruning. In my opinion having the tree is a really nice bonus - lots of wildlife in the garden, and my kids love trying to climb it. And it gives good privacy too.

ukjoel

Think Trees are great and in all honesty if I got to the point where a tree 40ft from the house was the biggest issue then I would be putting a bid in pretty quick.
Go for it