Help with land owners trees

AVFC.Stephen

Ok so I bought a house a couple of months ago. There is a private owned piece of land beside the house. I didn't think much of it when when I bought the house as I thought I would contact land direct and find out who the owner is as there are trees grown so much that they cover over the chimney of the house. To give a bit of a description the house is an end of an estate detached house. The trees are growing 3 metres away from the house behind a wall in the land owners land. I don't know what the trees are but they are higher than the house...... There is 5 trees altogether and they are around 12 inches thick.

Anyways, I decided to contact the landowner through land direct only to find out the last time the land was registered was in 1929. I contacted the county council also to see who owns the land today but they couldn't give me any info. None of my neighbours know either. It's a massive neglected piece of land which I have now found out is up for sale for 5 million. The estate agent can't give me any info due to data protection. I have contacted the local TD who hasn't replied back yet.

I really feel I'm out of options but to take the law into my own hands. I would much prefer not to though.

Can anyone please give me any advice on this? Is there another option I can look at without it costing thousands in legal fees or in tree surgeons which I doubt will even look at them due to I don't own the land.

I should also add, I don't want them cut back. I want them gone.

Thanks in advance

Teyla Emmagan

You are in the wrong forum. Ask the mod to move you into Accommodation and Property. They know all about other people's trees there.

Delphinium

The trees have probably grown as weeds, as in they were not actually planted. All you can legally do is cut back to where they overhang your boundary. Unless you can find the owner, I would do it ASAP to prevent damage to your house.
Once it is sold you may negotiate with new neighbour.
Maybe inquire from long term residents in the locality as they might know who owner is.
You have no right to demand trees are "gone" unless they are causing structural damage.

lucernarian

There is an official register of deeds, I think you could pay fees and find out who owns the land that way.

AVFC.Stephen

Teyla Emmagan wrote: »

You are in the wrong forum. Ask the mod to move you into Accommodation and Property. They know all about other people's trees there.

Yeah I'm a bit of a noob when it comes to finding the correct topic to post in.

AVFC.Stephen

Delphinium wrote: »

The trees have probably grown as weeds, as in they were not actually planted. All you can legally do is cut back to where they overhang your boundary. Unless you can find the owner, I would do it ASAP to prevent damage to your house.
Once it is sold you may negotiate with new neighbour.
Maybe inquire from long term residents in the locality as they might know who owner is.
You have no right to demand trees are "gone" unless they are causing structural damage.

I would of thought they were weeds of some sort myself.

To cut them back I would need a cherry picker and probs a pole saw...

I would have thought being so close to the house and correct me if I'm wrong, we have a right to light?. There is a section of the garden that doesn't even have grass due to the shade.

AVFC.Stephen

lucernarian wrote: »

There is an official register of deeds, I think you could pay fees and find out who owns the land that way.

Yeah land direct has it registered to a man in his 30s that bought it in 1929. His address is basicly half the county as the area was very rural back then.

For example.

Name John Doe
Address south Wicklow

Larbre34

In those circumstances, no one is going to cut the trees on the adjoining land for you. Take plenty of photos with date stamps, then get in a cherry pickers or an arborial specialist and take as much of them out as you can from your side of the boundary, then drill the trunks and fill them with herbicide so no regrowth. You are wasting time and energy chasing the land registry.

AVFC.Stephen

Larbre34 wrote: »

In those circumstances, no one is going to cut the trees on the adjoining land for you. Take plenty of photos with date stamps, then get in a cherry pickers or an arborial specialist and take as much of them out as you can from your side of the boundary, then drill the trunks and fill them with herbicide so no regrowth. You are wasting time and energy chasing the land registry.

I have thought about that and I understand If it's not done I could be facing tiles from the roof flying off not to mention the gutters are in a right state. As far as I know a cherry picker is 500 a day and to take a tree down is 250 a tree x 5. So I be into 2k for someone else's neglect.

I do agree with what you are saying but 2k right now isn't exactly easy to come by. I'm really pulling my hair out at this stage

Delphinium

Can you find the solicitor who is handling the sale. It will usually be mentioned in the advertising literature.
They may not be able to tell you the name but could perhaps inform them of the problem and make them aware that they would be liable for any damage to your house.
I had neighbours remove eucalyptus which were overhanging my roof as my insurance told me they would be liable. They thanked me afterwards for making them remove the trees as they were unsuitable and dangerous to their own property.

antiskeptic

Delphinium wrote: »

Can you find the solicitor who is handling the sale. It will usually be mentioned in the advertising literature.

You can also check out online planning and see if there's any planning lodged for the site (often times, getting planning will increase the value of the site). You will find out who owns it that way - the planning will be lodged in the name of the owner / front company for the owner

archer22

AVFC.Stephen wrote: »

I would of thought they were weeds of some sort myself.

To cut them back I would need a cherry picker and probs a pole saw...

I would have thought being so close to the house and correct me if I'm wrong, we have a right to light?. There is a section of the garden that doesn't even have grass due to the shade.

As far as I am aware...you don't.

brightspark

AVFC.Stephen wrote: »

I would of thought they were weeds of some sort myself.

To cut them back I would need a cherry picker and probs a pole saw...

I would have thought being so close to the house and correct me if I'm wrong, we have a right to light?. There is a section of the garden that doesn't even have grass due to the shade.

No right to light, you can only cut back what overhangs the boundary.
Technically anything you cut belongs to the other party and you should offer to return it, but you can't just throw it back either.


Behind my bungalow there are some tiny bungalows/dormers squeezed into a narrow strip of land.
The planning permission for them was only given subject to the raising of the wall at the back of my property being raised by two blocks (this was before I bought the property)
Some new owners approached me a few years ago about lowering the wall as their kitchen doesn't get much sun. I didn't oblige them as if it was lower they would be able to look over the wall into my home.
The wall was there when they bought the house, if they didn't like it they shouldn't have bought it.

If you wanted the trees "gone" you should have ensured it would happen before you bought your house.
However you might be lucky and your new neighbour might want them gone too.

AVFC.Stephen

brightspark wrote: »

No right to light, you can only cut back what overhangs the boundary.
Technically anything you cut belongs to the other party and you should offer to return it, but you can't just throw it back either.


Behind my bungalow there are some tiny bungalows/dormers squeezed into a narrow strip of land.
The planning permission for them was only given subject to the raising of the wall at the back of my property being raised by two blocks (this was before I bought the property)
Some new owners approached me a few years ago about lowering the wall as their kitchen doesn't get much sun. I didn't oblige them as if it was lower they would be able to look over the wall into my home.
The wall was there when they bought the house, if they didn't like it they shouldn't have bought it.

If you wanted the trees "gone" you should have ensured it would happen before you bought your house.
However you might be lucky and your new neighbour might want them gone too.

If the trees were maintained and pruned properly I wouldn't have a problem with them. I know isaid iwant them gone, buts because of the statw of them. They aren't looked after at all. Surely if they are dangerous to the house, ivy growing up them, rotting to some sort of degree, the owner should have to make the surrounding area safer. I'm not a solicitor but if a branch was to fall on my daughter or the wind weakened the position of the tree, we shouldn't really have to wait for this to happen should we?

brightspark

AVFC.Stephen wrote: »

If the trees were maintained and pruned properly I wouldn't have a problem with them. I know isaid iwant them gone, buts because of the statw of them. They aren't looked after at all. Surely if they are dangerous to the house, ivy growing up them, rotting to some sort of degree, the owner should have to make the surrounding area safer. I'm not a solicitor but if a branch was to fall on my daughter or the wind weakened the position of the tree, we shouldn't really have to wait for this to happen should we?

Then cut back the overhanging branches

GarIT

AVFC.Stephen wrote: »

I'm not a solicitor but if a branch was to fall on my daughter or the wind weakened the position of the tree, we shouldn't really have to wait for this to happen should we?

They would be liable in that case. From a legal standpoint yes you do have to wait for that to happen.

AVFC.Stephen

brightspark wrote: »

Then cut back the overhanging branches

It's the cost.. I don't have that money to spare atm.

AVFC.Stephen

GarIT wrote: »

They would be liable in that case. From a legal standpoint yes you do have to wait for that to happen.

Ouch I really wasn't hoping to hear that.

Seems like check mate or very close

GarIT

AVFC.Stephen wrote: »

Ouch I really wasn't hoping to hear that.

Seems like check mate or very close

If it's close enough you could potentially get a builder/surveyor or similar to say it is damaging/has damaged the foundations of your property and hope the owner chooses to take them down. The only way you can force something to be done is by suing them and proving that it has already caused damage.

Sometimes you can resolve it with something as simple as a letter saying the trees are dangerous and likely to cause damage and that you have been advised they are liable if they aren't removed. Your first problem is finding the owner, they could turn out to be very cooperative.

antiskeptic

antiskeptic wrote: »

You can also check out online planning and see if there's any planning lodged for the site (often times, getting planning will increase the value of the site). You will find out who owns it that way - the planning will be lodged in the name of the owner / front company for the owner

Dunno where you are but typically you:

- google: planning / name of local council

- look for map search on the council website. You'll get a map of the council area and you zoom/navigate into the site in question. There may be a few planning apps on the site, with possible changes of ownership along the way. Each application represented by a dot. Click on each, looking for the most recent

- The name of the applicant will appear on the drop down arising from each dot.

- You can check things further if you scroll down the drop down. There'll be a further info link from whence access to application / drawings / objections and the like.

elperello

12 inch diameter but how tall are they in feet or metres?

Varik

GarIT wrote: »

They would be liable in that case. From a legal standpoint yes you do have to wait for that to happen.

It been gone over and over in the Accommodation & Property, forestry, and the legal discussion forums. They wouldn't be liable. If a qualified arborist, was to tell them it was a danger and they didn't heed that then yes, otherwise it's just an act of god.

AVFC.Stephen

antiskeptic wrote: »

Dunno where you are but typically you:

- google: planning / name of local council

- look for map search on the council website. You'll get a map of the council area and you zoom/navigate into the site in question. There may be a few planning apps on the site, with possible changes of ownership along the way. Each application represented by a dot. Click on each, looking for the most recent

- The name of the applicant will appear on the drop down arising from each dot.

- You can check things further if you scroll down the drop down. There'll be a further info link from whence access to application / drawings / objections and the like.

I was just about to do that. Dust off the auld laptop. My phone and Adobe never seemed to be mates

AVFC.Stephen

GarIT wrote: »

If it's close enough you could potentially get a builder/surveyor or similar to say it is damaging/has damaged the foundations of your property and hope the owner chooses to take them down. The only way you can force something to be done is by suing them and proving that it has already caused damage.

Sometimes you can resolve it with something as simple as a letter saying the trees are dangerous and likely to cause damage and that you have been advised they are liable if they aren't removed. Your first problem is finding the owner, they could turn out to be very cooperative.

It sounds like hindsight which is how I was thinking until I think it was yourself that debunked it. Interesting all the same, going about this legally comes across as it could take years or until some sort of disaster is proved.

Where is a local thug tree hater when you need one lol

AVFC.Stephen

elperello wrote: »

12 inch diameter but how tall are they in feet or metres?

If the house is say 12 metres high. The trees are atleast 15m

elperello

They are big alright.
A good man with a chainsaw could bring them down.
It's a bit outside the scope of DIY but someone who sells firewood might knock them for the timber.
That would reduce the cost to the landowner.

brightspark

AVFC.Stephen wrote: »

If the house is say 12 metres high. The trees are atleast 15m

That's a tall house, how many floors?

Teyla Emmagan

No, you have no right to light in this country.

AVFC.Stephen

brightspark wrote: »

That's a tall house, how many floors?

Sorry I miscalculated. The house is around 9 and the tree is around 12

lucernarian

AVFC.Stephen wrote: »

Yeah land direct has it registered to a man in his 30s that bought it in 1929. His address is basicly half the county as the area was very rural back then.

For example.

Name John Doe
Address south Wicklow

What is land direct? The official agency is this one: http://www.prai.ie/land-registry-services/

All* land owned by someone in the state has to be registered here.

*There could be rare odd historical examples or things involving abandoned islands etc.

looksee

Land Registry, Property Registry, Land Direct all much the same thing. Not everywhere is recorded digitally, you have to contact the land registry for some places.

You can also get information from Planning maps.

studdlymurphy

Think you need permission to cut trees down that are over a certain age too. Just to be aware.

looksee

studdlymurphy wrote: »

Think you need permission to cut trees down that are over a certain age too. Just to be aware.

Quite a lot of that does not apply if you are in an urban area and/or the trees are within 30m of a building or 10m of a public road. It does pre-suppose that you own the trees though.

lucernarian

looksee wrote: »

Land Registry, Property Registry, Land Direct all much the same thing. Not everywhere is recorded digitally, you have to contact the land registry for some places.

You can also get information from Planning maps.

Didn't realise that. I've never heard of "land direct" before, don't know why they need an extra moniker for themselves.

Just wondering here but I imagine if someone were to suddenly squat in the property, someone would have to show standing (i.e. be the owner) in court to have e.g. an injunction carried out.

Markcheese

Just out of noseyness, what kind of trees are they? Evergreen? Deciduous? The dreaded leylandia?
. . If they're something "nice" a new owner may want to keep them, if not they could be happy to see them gone..
. . . But unless they're actually dangerous I doubt you're gonna get someone else to pay for removing them...

AVFC.Stephen

looksee wrote: »

Land Registry, Property Registry, Land Direct all much the same thing. Not everywhere is recorded digitally, you have to contact the land registry for some places.

You can also get information from Planning maps.

I actually had to pay 5 euro to find out the lads name from 1929 lol

AVFC.Stephen

Markcheese wrote: »

Just out of noseyness, what kind of trees are they? Evergreen? Deciduous? The dreaded leylandia?
. . If they're something "nice" a new owner may want to keep them, if not they could be happy to see them gone..
. . . But unless they're actually dangerous I doubt you're gonna get someone else to pay for removing them...

I'm not sure what they are. The leaves fall off like little branches if that's any use to you, they are also full of ivy..

Delphinium

Sounds like ash. self seeds all over the place.

AVFC.Stephen

Delphinium wrote: »

Sounds like ash. self seeds all over the place.

May not have to worry about it after today. Hope it falls the other direction lol

Wyldwood

AVFC.Stephen wrote: »

May not have to worry about it after today. Hope it falls the other direction lol

I can tell you it's not so funny when it happens as one of my neighbour's 40+ft high ash tree came tumbling into my garden yesterday morning. This was an hour after the party wall between the two gardens came down so my place looks like Beirut.

OP I'd get them down asap.

AVFC.Stephen

Just an update on this.....
So I couldn't find the owner but a local chancellor got in contact with me and came to my house to see the problem.

To quote the chap

I will get them f****n things down for ya. The c****bag that owns that land is a waster.

So he has diggers coming to my house next week to pull them away from the house before they are chopped lol

tabby aspreme

AVFC.Stephen wrote: »

Just an update on this.....
So I couldn't find the owner but a local chancellor got in contact with me and came to my house to see the problem.

To quote the chap

I will get them f****n things down for ya. The c****bag that owns that land is a waster.

So he has diggers coming to my house next week to pull them away from the house before they are chopped lol

Just be careful that this high ranking government official knows what he is doing and has insurance, he could be a chancer

fineso.mom

tabby aspreme wrote: »

Just be careful that this high ranking government official knows what he is doing and has insurance, he could be a chancer

Well he did say he was a 'chancellor' ☺

AVFC.Stephen

tabby aspreme wrote: »

Just be careful that this high ranking government official knows what he is doing and has insurance, he could be a chancer

That actually crossed my mind but he has tree surgeons to do the job. Also they won't be technically on my land to do anything to me about it.

I did my homework on the chap and he's highly recommended too. But like you said, be wary

elperello

AVFC.Stephen wrote: »

That actually crossed my mind but he has tree surgeons to do the job. Also they won't be technically on my land to do anything to me about it.

I did my homework on the chap and he's highly recommended too. But like you said, be wary

What is this guys title and who is paying him?
What will happen to the timber?

AVFC.Stephen

elperello wrote: »

What is this guys title and who is paying him?
What will happen to the timber?

Don't know. And if I'm honest I don't really care if the trees disappear.

Whether he is chatting to the land owner I'm sure he is as I don't think a tree surgeon will just go on someone's land as that is trespassing.

I rang a company about them before and they would only cut them back

brightspark

AVFC.Stephen wrote: »

Don't know. And if I'm honest I don't really care if the trees disappear.

Whether he is chatting to the land owner I'm sure he is as I don't think a tree surgeon will just go on someone's land as that is trespassing.

I rang a company about them before and they would only cut them back

A neighbour of mine asked a tree surgeon to cut back one of my trees, they told him they had my permission! (The tree was there before their house was even built.). Also there was no way he could have cut what he did without trespassing either.

I told them I wouldn't go to the guards if they replaced the tree with a similar mature tree. They were both sweating when they found out how much a mature replacement tree was going to cost. To be honest I had more of a problem with the tree surgeon doing it as he is supposed to be a professional, if the neighbour had done it themselves I'd have just replaced it with a leylandi:D

I brought it to the point where they had agreed to replace the tree.

I decided not to pursue it however, as I didn't want my neighbour to be that much out of pocket, but left them both in no doubt that they were not to cut back anything besides overhanging branches in the future.

I somehow doubt if that tree surgeon will break so much as a twig without permission in future.

AVFC.Stephen

brightspark wrote: »

A neighbour of mine asked a tree surgeon to cut back one of my trees, they told him they had my permission! (The tree was there before their house was even built.). Also there was no way he could have cut what he did without trespassing either.

I told them I wouldn't go to the guards if they replaced the tree with a similar mature tree. They were both sweating when they found out how much a mature replacement tree was going to cost. To be honest I had more of a problem with the tree surgeon doing it as he is supposed to be a professional, if the neighbour had done it themselves I'd have just replaced it with a leylandi:D

I brought it to the point where they had agreed to replace the tree.

I decided not to pursue it however, as I didn't want my neighbour to be that much out of pocket, but left them both in no doubt that they were not to cut back anything besides overhanging branches in the future.

I somehow doubt if that tree surgeon will break so much as a twig without permission in future.

These lean towards my house and grow over the chimney. During ophelia I'm very surprised they didn't break the back window of the house.

As far as I know it's considered a danger more so than a mature tree (s). I don't think I will be out of pocket at all as I'm not paying for it.

I can imagine your neighbour was really worried when he saw the price lol.

elperello

AVFC.Stephen wrote: »

Don't know. And if I'm honest I don't really care if the trees disappear.

Whether he is chatting to the land owner I'm sure he is as I don't think a tree surgeon will just go on someone's land as that is trespassing.

I rang a company about them before and they would only cut them back

If you are sure about all the details carry on. It just seemed like an unusual arrangement that's all.
Good luck with it.

tabby aspreme

Is your tree surgeon also a purveyor of tarmac and roof repairs