Neighbours 50ft tree/conifer 2m away from property. Advice gratefully recieved!

[Dman77]

Hi Friendly tree experts.

 

Ive already checked in this section of the forum to see if my problem can be solved. There are similar threads but not exactly the same. Id appreciate some advice.

 

We are buying a house (early stages) and we are really worried that the neighbours 50ft ish tree/conifer which is 2m (trunk) away from our potential property (kitchen corner of the house) has roots all around our foundations waiting to cause untold destruction/subsidence.

No obvious cracks in exterior walls (no survey yet) but father inlaw has said to pull out the sale immediately as subsidence is a real possibility in ?years.

 

First of all - can anyone tell me what this is? This is a view from a neighbour (next to tree owner). Thats my potential house side wall.

 

 

 

(Never uploaded so hope that worked)

 

Based on that tree, what roots are likely? Shallow/deep, known for damage?

This is deep surrey near M25 and told clay is likely. House built mid 50,s.

 

I really dont want to start a long process unnecessarly if you kind folk think id be nuts to touch a property with this massive thing 2 meters away

Ps the neighnour also has 4 smaller ones half height of this 1 m each away along the boundary so probably root city down there

 

Any comments welcome. We really are stressing over this.

Cheers all

Dave

[Marc Lewis]

If the neighbour agrees the n you could get the tree removed. It would probably cost £500 - £1000. Might be worth considering if you like the house.

[treequip]

I guess what im asking is -'How good/accurate/confident can these reports be?

 

A "pukka" report will consist of (amongst other things) a site visit and investigation with soil "core" sampling, usually down to 700mm.

 

in layman's terms, problems happen when vegetation extracts moisture from soils which causes volumetric changes, essentially the soil shrinks and leaves the structure unsupported. Sail type is a major consideration, some soils are more susceptible than others and some not at all.

 

The property is the biggest single purchase most of us ever make so you are right to be cautious

[treesrus]

there is also the right to light issue, if the kitchen is too dark because of the tree, it is possible to legally have it reduced.

[Mark Bolam]

I see this one more simply.

I wouldn't want to live next to someone who thinks it's alright to inflict a tree like that on their neighbour.

 

 

Sent from my iPhone using Arbtalk

[kevinjohnsonmbe]

I see this one more simply.

I wouldn't want to live next to someone who thinks it's alright to inflict a tree like that on their neighbour.

 

 

Sent from my iPhone using Arbtalk

 

Quite so! Bloody Brexit!

[Gary Prentice]

there is also the right to light issue, if the kitchen is too dark because of the tree, it is possible to legally have it reduced.

 

Got a link to a court case for this claim, that doesn't involve hedges?

[Haironyourchest]

(From the Wikipedia Leylandii page)

 

The plant's rapid growth (up to a metre per year) and great potential height – often over 20 metres (66 ft) tall, sometimes as high as 35 metres (115 ft) – can become a serious problem. In 2005 in the United Kingdom, an estimated 17,000 people were at loggerheads over high hedges, which led to violence and in at least one case murder, when in 2001, retired Environment Agency officer Llandis Burdon, 57, was shot dead after an alleged dispute over a leylandii hedge in Talybont-on-Usk, Powys.[17]

 

Part VIII of the United Kingdom's Anti-Social Behaviour Act 2003, introduced in 2005, gave a way for people affected by high hedges (usually, but not necessarily, of leylandii) to ask their local authority to investigate complaints about the hedges, and gave the authorities in England and Wales power to have the hedges reduced in height.[22] In May 2008, UK resident Christine Wright won a 24-year legal battle to have her neighbour's leylandii trees cut down for blocking sunlight to her garden.[23]

 

 

If your soil isn't clay based, and the house foundations are strong and good, maybe you could use the presence of the tree as leverage to bring down the price?

[Arctostaphylos uva-ursi]

I see this one more simply.

I wouldn't want to live next to someone who thinks it's alright to inflict a tree like that on their neighbour.

 

 

Sent from my iPhone using Arbtalk

 

Agreed. Looks like you are off to a rocky start with your potential neighbour and you havent even moved in yet!

[kevinjohnsonmbe]

Got a link to a court case for this claim, that doesn't involve hedges?

 

 

Rhetorical question Gary! You already know the answer!! 🤔

 

My all time fave quote:

 

"...Grows rapidly to 30M in any soil,then blows down..."

 

(Collins Tree Guide 2004:46)

[sloth]

Part 8 of the ASB act only applies to hedges, ie. rows of, not single, trees. That blooming great thing (assuming it's not TPOd or in a conservation area) could be cut back to your boundary, if that helps.

Your lender or building insurers may insist on a survey, but to be honest no one can say that tree will cause subsidence, even on heavy clay soils, only that it is highly likely. Your (potential) neighbour may not have the financial means to fell it, even if they want to, and offering to pay might be in both of your best interests should you decide you really want the property.