Huge tree overhanging garden - question

Ludo

Not sure if this is the correct forum but sure I will give it a go anyway.

The house next door to us has a huge sycamore tree which overhangs our back garden. Whenever there is a strong wind, large branches fall into our garden from time to time. This is a danger now that we have 2 babies in the house who will soon be old enough to go out there (also blocks a lot of our light).

I was wondering if anyone knows the legal situation regards getting this tree dealt with. It would cost a lot to get this dealt with I would imagine and I don't see why I should pay for something that our neighbour has planted and let grow unchecked. The house is rented so it would be the landlords problem. If the house wasn't rented I would obviously approach the residents and offer to split the cost with them to keep up neighbourly friendliness and all that but that isn't the case.

Tackling it myself would be dangerous as it is so large and I also don't want to risk "unbalancing" the tree and risk it all coming down so a professional would be needed to sort it out.

Any advice/suggestions welcome.

The Sweeper

Ludo this has been covered off briefly before on another thread, but regarding smaller plants - overhanging creepers. The situation in Ireland is that the person upon whose property the tree is rooted is the person responsible for the tree.

As a neighbour you are entitled to butcher any vegetation that hangs into your garden, though apparently you have to return the butchered bits to the owner.

In your case, with a huge sycamore tree, this is obviously more serious than a boisterous ivy hanging over your wall.

The pros of it being a rented property: you don't have a permanent neighbour with whom you'll fall out over this.

The cons: twofold. Tree surgery is very expensive, but for good reason - taking down tree branches is absolutely not something you should ever tackle yourself. It is extremely dangerous, and the injuries you can sustain from inexpertly lopping branches are truly horrific. It being expensive, and your landlord possibly seeing the property as purely an investment and therefore not valuing the relationship with you, he might try everything he can to get out of paying to have this tree taken down or lopped right back.

I'd say all you can do is request that the property owner has their tree either pruned back or taken down, but if they outright refuse, honestly I'm not sure what your next effective step would be. I would assume you should contact a solicitor, but I'm unsure whether you'd have to foot the assessment bill from a tree surgeon, proving the tree needs to be cut back, yourself, and then sue your neighbour for the cost of that assessment when it proves out that the tree needs to be taken down/cut back.

What is the access to the tree like? Is someone going to be able to get a cherry picker into that garden?

(As a complete aside, there's a house we drive past on our way to Epping here in Oz. It's a small, artisan-style cottagey thing. The gum tree in the front garden has a trunk that takes up half the area of the garden, and the tree is three times the height of the house. Cracks me up every time I see it, because I can just picture the original planter putting this cute little one-foot seedling in a tiny bed in the centre of their front garden...)

Minder

If the tree is dangerous, then the environment department of the local council may intervene - they will also be able to tell you if the tree is the subject of a preservation order.

You may have a right to light - but it usually applies to your dwelling and you need to demonstrate that you enjoyed 20 years of uninterrupted light before the nuisance arose - probably difficult with a mature sycamore.

Pruning and crown thinning are possibilities but your neighbour would have to agree. Best approach is to contact the landlord and discuss the problem.

Ludo

Thanks for the feedback guys.

I'm not bothered about the light aspect of it to be honest. Unfortunately I doubt the council would care as it isn't a danger to the public exactly and they probably don't consider branches falling into our back garden an immediate danger which I do.

I'll get onto the landlord alright about it. I read somewhere also that if I have made him aware of the danger and something does happen then his insurance company will hold him responsible and he may be liable but not too sure how to go about it and I also don't want to wait for something to happen before getting it rectified. Maybe I'll give my house insurance company a call and enquire with them about it also.

TequilaMockingBird

Hey Ludo, in the meantime be sure to take photos of any branches that fall to your garden, just to have a record.

Sonnenblumen

As your post clearly illustrates, large trees in urban settings can create considerable disharmony amongst neighbours. In most cases some resolution is generally achieved however it is worth noting:

- there is no absolute 'right to light'
- neighbours do not require tree owner's permission and may cut back any overhanging branches (to in line with boundary). In fact the offcuts can also be given to rightful owner.
- trees > 20 years old are more likely protected and special permission is required from local Council prior to any tree surgery.
- dangerous trees (ie fallen branches or listing) should be reported to local council's parks dept. A tall tree is not by virtue of its height dangerous, however there are many variables to be taken into account before such a decision can be made and variety can also be an important factor.
- houshold policies will generally cover any damaged caused to neighbouring properties by fallen branches. More importantly any damage caused during pruning/felling is EXCLUDED. Therefore it is important that any persons retained for tree felling/surgery should have adequate public liability insurance.

As other posters have indicated using chainsaws/tree cutting is best left to thos with appropriate training. A tree can be esily replaced, a limb or worse a life unfortunately not.

Good luck.

Ludo

Well in a classic case of karma biting me on the ass, a much smaller tree at the back of my own garden decided to fall over on Friday evening during the stormy weather.

Serves me right for being worried about the neighbours tree I guess

The felt on the roof of my shed got blown off also

Middle of bloody summer....crazy :eek: