Buy house next to huge London Plane?

[ceebee13]

We are planning to buy an end of terrace house in London. On the street running alongside the house, there is a council-owned London Plane tree, which is taller than the house. It sits next to the back garden, and its canopy extends around the width of the garden (with a fair amount of overhang!).

 

It will block a great deal of light in the summer (sitting directly where light would otherwise come into the garden for much of the day) and for this reason alone we are considering pulling out. However, we love the house and we're considering whether we can live with this - but we want to be realistic about what we're taking on. I assume the council won't remove the tree (and I accept trees are an important part of public infrastructure).

 

Is there a risk that the tree could damage the house? We also want to build a kitchen extension in time and I assume this will have an impact on the depth if the foundations etc. Any advice?! Is this a nightmare waiting to happen?

Edited December 21, 2021 by ceebee13
typo

[monkeybusiness]

32 minutes ago, ceebee13 said:

We are planning to buy an end of terrace house in London. On the street running alongside the house, there is a council-owned London Plane tree, which is taller than the house. It sits next to the back garden, and its canopy extends around the width of the garden (with a fair amount of overhang!).

 

It will block a great deal of light in the summer (sitting directly where light would otherwise come into the garden for much of the day) and for this reason alone we are considering pulling out. However, we love the house and we're considering whether we can live with this - but we want to be realistic about what we're taking on. I assume the council won't remove the tree (and I accept trees are an important part of public infrastructure).

 

Is there a risk that the tree could damage the house? We also want to build a kitchen extension in time and I assume this will have an impact on the depth if the foundations etc. Any advice?! Is this a nightmare waiting to happen?

Accept the fact that the tree will always be there no matter how sick of it you get. It might also mean that you can’t get planning for any sort of extension depending on location/proximity to proposed build (speak to an arboricultural consultant before committing to buy if this is a deal-breaker for you). 
It is also possible that the tree could cause subsidence depending upon soil type (London clay is susceptible, but not all of London is built on shrinkable clay). 
If you are already not happy with the tree I’d suggest walking away personally, London is full of houses, you’ll soon find another one! 

[Mick Dempsey]

Put a picture up, it may be regularly pollarded which may help.

Edited December 21, 2021 by Mick Dempsey

[Khriss]

That really, from Monkey, hearing abt huge trees ( or small trees) ruining  house sales, well buy elsewhere, or those nice apartments getting thrown up like mushrooms across Town. K

[peds]

I moved into an apartment right next door to a pub a few years ago. The noise was terrible, every night at closing time there'd be shouting, singing, etc.

 

We complained about it all the time and eventually we got the pub closed down, and we could finally live in peace, surrounded by people who hated us. 

[trigger_andy]

I moved into an apartment right next door to a pub a few years ago. The noise was terrible, every night at closing time there'd be shouting, singing, etc.
 
We complained about it all the time and eventually we got the pub closed down, and we could finally live in peace, surrounded by people who hated us. 

I hope you’re joking.

[peds]

Sorry if that upsets you Triggered Mandy, but how were we supposed to know that the pub, which had only been there for 300 years, was going to be so noisy?

 

Anyway, there are still other pubs nearby. 

[Canal Navvy]

London plane that is taller than a house and covers part of the garden......... only a baby, got loads to grow yet, and considered to be safe to retain in town 😉

Edited December 21, 2021 by Canal Navvy

[daveatdave]

don't forget you will have to clear all the leaves up and dispose of them and clear the gutters out

Edited December 21, 2021 by daveatdave

[JaySmith]

As others have said put some pics up as that will help under the context and situation. If it is a LA owned street tree you have next to no chance of having it removed unless it is proved to cause subsidence, dies or develops major defects that cannot be mitigated. Also if the tree is removed (depending on the reason) a replant will usually occur, especially if it is in a CA or TPO’d Rightfully so in my opinion.

If the tree is of pollard form then it may well be on a regime and be pruned every 2, 3 or 5 years for example. This may help with the potential shading issues. Pollard regimes (frequency) are often dictated by factors such as street layout and past insurance claims so it could be the case that the tree is repollarded every two years for example. If it is of standard form depending on the LA’s policy they are extremely unlikely to allow you to prune said tree or do little more than give statutory highway clearance or prune back from built structure by a 1m for example. If you raise an enquiry with the LA you will likely be able to find out info such as how often it is pollarded for example.

Regarding the potential extension it may be prudent to speak with an arb consultant for some advice as they will likely to be able to advise on RPA’s and in their experience what would be likely to be granted with regards to the trees location. Just because a street tree is close by doesn’t mean construction can’t happen it just means that alternative construction methods may need to be explored, which in turn can be costly and worth considering when making an offer if the extra space is a deal breaker for you.

As the concrete jungle heats up you may just be glad or a bit of shade! It staggers me how many people buy a house, move in and then get on the phone wanting the LA to remove the tree as it blocks out their vitamin d intake! For me I wouldn’t not buy a house near to a tree but would certainly do my due diligence before committing to one of the biggest life purchases. Put some pics up as you’ll get a bit more assistance.

[jose]

why has nobody mentions the fact that these things shed the natural equivalent of fibreglass? anybody thats ever chipped some of this will testify that its horrendous! We use to put on full body decorating suits, googles etc. I even tried putting sheets over the back of the truck as a kind of filter ( which worked pretty well when i could keep it in place.

 

You couldnt pay me to live under one of these trees.

Dont do it!