Advice: Approach with Neighbours re: Tree

[Kingo206]

Hi all,

Hoping to get some advice please - We're finishing up an extension on our house and are about to tackle cleaning up the garden. Our neighbours have a large oak tree at the edge of our property, and a significant portion of it overhangs our garden.

We're wondering about the best way to handle this. Is it extreme asking them to cut down the tree, does anyone have experience with this sort of situation?

Any advice on how to approach our neighbor about it would be appreciated!

 

[jj4091]

You can cut off anything growing over or under your property from a neighbours garden but can't really understand why that tree would cause you a problem. You cannot make THEM cut it down or cut off any overhang.

 

[Kingo206]

Yeah, I think cutting it down is extreme - we will just keep ontop of pruning it regularly I guess.

Thank you

 

[mattylad]

Be careful that it has not got a TPO on it.

 

[Kingo206]

Very good shout.

It's a standard semi-detached in west-mids city, I doubt it.

We will simply be pruning anyway

 

[blup]

Will keeping it or removing it impact on the footings? (subsidence or heave?)

 

[Why Not Indeed]

We're wondering about the best way to handle this.

The cheapest approach is to just ignore it.

 

[Murdochcat]

Disputes with neighbours are not a good idea. Suggest you do nothing without checking for a TPO and then discussing it with the owner

 

[Old Salt]

Local planning dept will have details of TPO’s online, easy enough to check. I am currently in the process of discussing exactly this with the property owner for a huge oak that overhangs my garden and has a TPO.

 

[Kaymo]

Might be worthwhile if I offer the point of view of the person who owns the tree, as I have been on the other side of the fence (pardon the pun) where my neighbour demanded that I crown my tree. My feeling was that the tree was mature and a similar height when they bought the property, and I didn't ask them to build an extension, so I felt it was a bit of a cheek buying a house and then just expecting neighbours who were already there to fit around their them. I'm in a conservation area so I didn't have to comply with their demands and they would have had to have applied for planning permission if they wanted to do it from their side.

If its a large mature Oak tree then I'd imagine it was there before you were, and that might be the way that they will see it. I am very fond of the mature tree in my garden and your neighbour might feel the same.

 

[lostinthelight]

We will simply be pruning anyway

Still need permission to prune if its got a TPO

 

[Odds]

A picture would be helpful to determine the extent of your neighbour's overhanging tree, otherwise you could be getting advice to prune it when it could easily be left alone.

 

[Collectors]

I have phoned my council to check if there was any TPO's on 2 oaks in my back garden & all they wanted was house number & post code & they came back & said no tpo's within 500 met of that address. They normally have to be very old & big.
Also, dont worry about the leaves. I find it best to wait until January when we get strong winds & magically 98% disappear. lol

 

[Mottie]

I have phoned my council to check if there was any PTO's on 2 oaks in my back garden & all they wanted was house number & post code & they came back & said no pto's within 500 met of that address. They normally have to be very old & big.

What about TPO's - any of them in place?

 

[Collectors]

What about TPO's - any of them in place?

As i said, no tpo's within 500 met of that address.