Buying a house with trees next to it...

[amy0103]

Hi I'm new to this forum and in need of advice, I'm looking to buy a house but the surveyor raised concerns about the neighbours trees being within "influencing distance" of the side of the house. They are around 2 metres away and I believe they are birch and conifer trees. Wanted some advice on their roots/maximum height. Would I be silly to proceed with the purchase or are they unlikely to cause any major problems? Thank you 

Edited Monday at 15:41 by amy0103

[Stubby]

3 hours ago, amy0103 said:

Hi I'm new to this forum and in need of advice, I'm looking to buy a house but the surveyor raised concerns about the neighbours trees being within "influencing distance" of the side of the house. They are around 2 metres away and I believe they are birch and conifer trees. Wanted some advice on their roots/maximum height. Would I be silly to proceed with the purchase or are they unlikely to cause any major problems? Thank you 

Conifer roots are generally pretty shallow and birch don't get very big . He needs to be more specific in terms of what he thinks  the influence might be .On the one hand you might get some little birch seeds here and there to the other extreme damage to foundations , drains and subsidence . The latter is very unlikely though .  

Edited Monday at 18:47 by Stubby

[Chris at eden]

Zone of influence relates specifically to indirect damage and is detailed within NHBC chapter 4.2.  I.e.  the distance at which trees have been observed to cause subsidence. 
 

the ZOI for birch is 7m.  For conifers it will depend on the species but off the top of my head I think Leyland cypress are 25m.  
 

Whether or not there is a risk depends on several factors. Soil type, tree species and water demand, foundation depth, geographical location, etc.  

 

I do this type of tree report pretty often. Sometimes the surveyors are just passing on liability but sometimes they know a bit about the area and how common tree related subsidence is locally. 
 

Hope this helps

 

Regards 

 

Chris