leylandii tree is damaging are fence

wicked_2

The neighbour to the back of our property has a very large leylandii tree, Approx 40-50 foot. The height isn't really an issue even though it does block our light somewhat; but the trunk has caused our fence to be pushed over and now we want to put a wall there.

They have agreed to the wall but the tree is in the way bordering our land and the roots are where the footings should go.

Does any one know what the law is in relation to this and what can we do? We do notwant a dispute with the neighbours and we cannot afford to remove it.

Please help.

bryanb

Friendly discussion with the neighbours is the only sensible way. You may want to sell in the future and you must declare disputes.

Seakay

Even without the problem with the footings, if you build a wall and the tree carries on growing then eventually it will knock the wall over.
Who has responsibility for maintaining that particular boundary?
You are entitiled to remove branches, roots etc which encroach onto your land, but that will not stop them growing back.
Did you own the damaged fence (ie did you have legal responsibility for it)? If you did then it has, in effect, been damaged by your neighbour's actions, or lack of them. If the fence was the legal responsibility of your neighbours then it is up to them to replace the boundary in the correct place - this would be better from your point of view because although they might not want to build a wall it is in their interests to do something to stop their tree damaging whatever they do put up.
There should be something in your deeds specifying who has responsibility for each boundary.

Penelope_Penguin

Hedgline website will give you all the information you need.

borntobefree

http://www.gardenlaw.co.uk/

The Garden Law web site will help you understand your legal position.

All the Best

Btbf

ray123

We have the same problem with a boundary wall, however, we own the upstairs property of a maisonette that has been converted into two flats. We have a shared freehold, but do not have access to the garden.

Are we responsible for paying towards the repairs, or is it the responsibility of our neighbour downstairs and the one opposite?

chrisaj

leylandi trees are the worst thing, especially for starting a feud with neighbours :eek:

Miss_Behaving

chrisaj wrote: »

leylandi trees are the worst thing, especially for starting a feud with neighbours :eek:

Totally agree, we have 24ft leyllandi next to us which the neighbours refuse to cut. In addition, when I spoke to the local authority I was told they're covered by a TPO so we can't cut branches that overhang unless we submit a request to them first. Can't risk a despute as the house will be hard enough to sell with the trees there let alone if there's an ongoing dispute too.

Emilio_2

Leylandii is such a pleasant looking plant that adds attraction for your home and also it can filter up to 30 % of atmospheric pollution. You can have a mutual discussion with your neighbors to solve out this problem. Also you can ask your neighbor to prune or trim the tree every year so that they can tidy up their formal Leylandii hedge and you can also avoid putting a wall.

peter_the_piper

Miss_Behaving wrote: »

In addition, when I spoke to the local authority I was told they're covered by a TPO so we can't cut branches that overhang unless we submit a request to them first .

I suggest a recheck on this as this is the first time I have heard of a Leyland having a TPO on it, AFAIK they are normally for native trees not ornamentals which leylands are.

Edit. Just looked here http://www.naturenet.net/trees/tpo.htm and a tpo can cover more than I thought. Still worth rechecking though.

SailorSam

Emilio wrote: »

Leylandii is such a pleasant looking plant that adds attraction for your home and also it can filter up to 30 % of atmospheric pollution. You can have a mutual discussion with your neighbors to solve out this problem. Also you can ask your neighbor to prune or trim the tree every year so that they can tidy up their formal Leylandii hedge and you can also avoid putting a wall.

Conifers are particularly bad at removing pollution from the atmosphere, what we need to do is plant more native trees, these are the ones that add attraction to an area. A mixed native hedge will encourage bio-diversity, studies have shown that bird life is increased in these areas and it is that which gives us a more pleasant garden than the green leylandi desert.