Can I make a neighbour cut down a tree?

[hans kraay fan club]

If the landlord doesn't want to then I would imagine the only thing you can do is to cut the roots at the boundary. I presume the tree was there when you moved in so how long ago was that? If you only moved in a few years ago, you might get a reputation as the next John Catt!!!

We've been here 12 years. The tree was there, but much, much smaller. After [MENTION=6678]severnside gull[/MENTION] comments above, I went and had another look this morning, and he's right - I have overestimated the height. It's more like 60 feet.

(You don't need to tell me anything about Catt - he's my parents' next door neighbour!)

 

[Questions]

I'd go straight down the napalm route Hansy to be honest or this could end up in the hands of solicitors however friendly you all are at the moment.
Just remember trees are *******s and they cannot be trusted. My brother in law gave me a dwarf pear tree which I put in at the bottom of our garden 11 years ago and I now have a 30ft golden plum tree whose roots have destroyed my paths and sheds so many plums in late summer that the bottom of the property smells like a winery as they rot away and attracts all those little flies.

Before you say anything.....yes.......chutneys, wine, crumbles......but you get sick of them.

 

[Badger]

Go and cut it down yourself, that's what [MENTION=232]Simster[/MENTION] 's neighbour did, much to his delight I recall.

 

[Gazwag]

Give this man a call

http://gfycat.com/IncompleteNarrowGreatdane

 

[The Antikythera Mechanism]

Where does that £200 figure come from?
Is it based on a quote you have had or know some one has had?
Are you in the tree cutting business or is just figure plucked out of the air?
I would have thought the tree remains alone would cost that to dispose of.

The tree surgeon I use charges £590 + VAT per day for a 4 man team. This includes for all disposal etc. He will do a half day, so minimum £295 + VAT

 

[Mackenzie]

Knock in a copper nail. That'll sort it......and probably your garage and house when it falls over.

 

[Biscuit Barrel]

I have had the same problem for the past few years. My neighbour had a large tree that blocked a lot of the sunlight from our garden and I was also concerned that it may come done in high winds.

My neighbour refused to reduce the size of the tree (I did not ask her to remove it). It got blown down in last years winter storms and came crashing down through my left hand fence, crushed my shed and then went through my right hand fence. Not one bit of damage to her property. I had to claim on my insurance, pay a £250 excess and now my policy has increased by £22 per month. I have still not had an apology from my neighbour.

I did contact the local authority prior to it blowing down, but they said not to waste my money pursuing the matter as a successful outcome is highly unlikely. Good luck with your neighbour.

 

[glasfryn]

I always thought that if it was over a certain hight you had to get permission as they might be preserved?

 

[Mattywerewolf]

We had exactly the same issue, although we just needed it significantly lopped rather than cut down. We talked to the neighbour and when she was initially reluctant we pointed out

1. Our right to cut down the overhanging branches, and to offer the branches to her if she wanted them
2. That if the tree did fall onto our property, having warned her in writing we would expect full recompense for any damage.

Having put the wind up her she agreed and actually went halves since we pointed out if we cut the overhang then the lopsided remaining tree would most likely fall on her house in the wind.

The tree was protected so we went about the correct approval process with the Council, and all is now done....

We only got to the subsequent points because she wasn't very neighbourly on the first iteration....Hopefully you can resolve with a polite conversation

 

[Grizz]

Had a similar thing in our back garden, but from your neighbours point of view. Had a large 40' sycamore which was literally 6' from their side wall. Now their house was built a long time after the tree was planted, so their foundations took it into account thank gawd.

I wanted the tree down, so first off you'll have to find out from the council whether it has a preservation order on it. If it doesn't, then it can be taken down with no restrictions. The best way is going to be with the landlord of the property and come to an agreement. There is such a thing as "right to light" so if it does completely block the sunlight from your garden/house then you'll have a lot more bargaining power. If the tree is as tall as you say it is then the roots will be deep and extensive, so be careful as it may undermine foundations of garages, sheds or even your/their house. With our tree we're taking it down in two stages. We've lopped all the main branches off and basically left the trunk and knuckle. We have to keep this pruned for the next 2-3 years to stop the tree from growing extensively, which will mean the roots will start to rot/compost naturally, which means the void where the root was will be filled with compost rather than leave a hole which'll compromise any foundations.

In a couple of years the tree surgeon is going to come back and take it down to the stump and inject it to kill it over an extended period of time. Cost for a days work and taking all the debris away was £500.

 

[Goldstone1976]

Buy the house next door. The tree is then yours and you can cut it down, after checking for a preservation order. Job's a good'un. You're welcome.

 

[hans kraay fan club]

Buy the house next door. The tree is then yours and you can cut it down, after checking for a preservation order. Job's a good'un. You're welcome.

I wish I could! It's only a 2-bed, and the lady pays 50% more in monthly rent for it, than we pay in mortgage payments on our house.

Care to loan me £300k?

 

[Weststander]

£700-£800 to chop down a tree seems like a massive overcharge.

Surely you can find someone to do it for £200 or so?

Won't the council help out?

That it is an astonishing rip off. I know fully qualified tree surgeons who charge £150 a day per person, and in a single day they take down many trees and at the same time cut the felled timber into manageable chunks. But add the cost of them chopping up the wood in their giant shredder and taking it away (unless you retain the wood and deal with it yourself = a big saving).

The poster who said you can cut branches overhanging your property is correct, unless the tree is subject to a TPO or in a Conservation Area, where doing that is a criminal offence.

 

[MattBackHome]

My next-door neighbour has offered to contribute half so I can't say no really, perhaps you might offer to help?

This - offer to chip in.

 

[MattBackHome]

That it is an astonishing rip off. I know fully qualified tree surgeons who charge £150 a day per person, and in a single day they take down many trees and at the same time cut the felled timber into manageable chunks. But add the cost of them chopping up the wood in their giant shredder and taking it away (unless you retain the wood and deal with it yourself = a big saving).

The poster who said you can cut branches overhanging your property is correct, unless the tree is subject to a TPO or in a Conservation Area, where doing that is a criminal offence.

We paid £150 to get one removed recently. It was on a massive wonk and loomed ominously over the area like a malevolent Tolkeinesque monster, thrashing about in extreme anger in even moderate winds.

 

[severnside gull]

The tree surgeon I use charges £590 + VAT per day for a 4 man team. This includes for all disposal etc. He will do a half day, so minimum £295 + VAT

That is seriously good value

 

[Hiney]

I have a similar problem in my back garden - problem is its my tree and its going to cost about £700 - £800 to take it down.

My next-door neighbour has offered to contribute half so I can't say no really, perhaps you might offer to help?

That quote is taking the piss.

We had a 40ft high, 12ft wide (at the widest) conifer taken down to ground level for £240 +VAT by a Council-accredited tree surgeon, about 3 months ago.

 

[Brian Fantana]

That quote is taking the piss.

We had a 40ft high, 12ft wide (at the widest) conifer taken down to ground level for £240 +VAT by a Council-accredited tree surgeon, about 3 months ago.

Yep, this.

We had a very similarly sounding tree removed recently for a very similar price.

 

[Tom Hark Preston Park]

Got a couple of massive silver birches in our gardens, one at the front, one at the back. They must each be about 80-90 foot high minimum. Got to be at least a hundred years old, probably much more. They certainly pre-date the house. Would like nothing better than to somehow replant them across the road in Preston Park, as it seems to me to be an act of environmental vandalism to just cut them down. They've got preservation orders on them I believe, thought the council will always override this for safety considerations. They send us a notice to trim back the one that overhangs the road every couple of years. Which is fair enough, though the ones on the council's side of the road opposite overhang more. Would be interested in knowing if the timber has any resale value to the tree-owner e.g. from some of these hand-crafted timber furniture places that are dotted around Brighton. Or does supply of trees outstrip demand for timber? Would be grand if they could pay you to take your tree away.

 

[rippleman]

As already pointed out you can cut any branches that overhang the boundary but you MUST throw them back into your neighbour's garden. Presumably you are technically committing the offence of theft if you retain / destroy the cuttings yourself.

This article provides some useful info:-

http://www.problemneighbours.co.uk/rights-trees-and-overhanging-branches.html