To refuse to pay to cut neighbour's tree?

[Latetotheparty26]

Neighbour has a tree on their land which shades our garden in summer. I mentioned 3 years ago that it would be great if they could trim the height. At the time, they refused as they had just opened own business and couldn't afford it. I accepted that and felt bad asking.
I asked again last summer, was given lots of excuses about nesting birds (I didn't expect it cut until it was the right time to do so), that it was a noise barrier (very new house with great double glazing) and also a security measure (tree is between fence and main road which is 10-15 foot high off road).
Met with them this week for them to tell me (in a very round about way) that, yes they finally had sorted someone to come and trim all their hedges (out of which this tree grows) and that the guy would quote on the tree - I was very pleased but, they then went on to say that they guy would let me know his quote to sort the tree and that with their permission he was to quote it be trimmed to a (very specific) height and that he was to not trample/flatten the bushes surrounding it.
I was left speechless! They want me to pay, to cut their tree with very specific requirements!
I know legally we have no leg to stand on, the tree does not obstruct daylight from our house, but...SURELY I can expect my neighbour to be...reasonable and neighbourly and maintain a pretty big tree!? It's only going to get bigger!

You are probably right, you're more annoyed about this than you usually would have been because of the other annoyances.

I don't think they've been cheeky at all, they probably thought they were doing a nice thing by finding out about costs as they know you want it done. I've been in a similar situation, where my neighbours paid to have a tree of mine removed. I quite liked the tree and didn't want it to go, but it bothered them a lot, so I let them have it removed at their own cost. Even if I'd had that much spare money, I could have thought of plenty of other things to spend it on. I like to be generous if I have the opportunity, but I'm not about to spend hundreds on doing a favour for a neighbour to my own (and a harmless tree's) detriment.

WTF Elizanumbers?

YABU
We had a similar request from neighbours regarding a large shrub!

In the end they paid 75% of the removal costs

It wasn't bothering us so we were happy to keep it and certainly weren't going to spend £400 getting it removed

We pay to a neighbour's tree cut that overhangs our garden, if we didn't it wouldn't get done.

SURELY I can expect my neighbour to be...reasonable and neighbourly

Never expect neighbours to be either of these things. It is a lovely bonus if they are!

You want it cut, you should pay.

I can imagine the reverse of this.

“CF neighbours keep asking me to cut my beautiful tree down because it is shading their garden. We’ve tried fobbing them off with excuses but they are back again for the third time, how the hell do I get through to them that I don’t want to cut it down?”

Someone would definitely advise telling them you’ll get a quote and if they pay for it you’ll consider it as it’s an expensive thing to do.

You want THEM to pay for the benefit to YOUR garden? Jog on! The reason there have been issues is because you’re that annoying neighbour who keeps banging on about that bloody tree!

Nice touch pretending it’s a safety issue too. But trees life side by side with roads all over the place and surprisingly there aren’t a whole lot of safety issues with that!

Personally I think the neighbourly thing to do is pay half, I would. I guess it depends on your neighbourhood & how close you are.

One of my colleagues had an issue with a neighbours tree & the neighbours didn’t want to know. A few yrs later said neighbour started a loft conversion without the correct party wall notice & planning permission (conservation area), friend let them get on with it & then issued a counter-notice, insisted on their own surveyor, reported them to the LA, complained about the noise & dust, etc (another neighbour did this too), it helped that her DH was a barrister though.

Yabu. Why should they pay for something for your convenience?

Personally I think they should pay. We have no right to inconvenience our neighbours with massive trees, constantly yapping dogs, letting litter blow all over the place, mowing lawns at 10pm etc but people are rude these days so the general opinion seems to be it is their tree so they can do what the fuck they like. Charming.

If the shoe was on the other foot and they were pestering you to cut your tree, even though you couldn't afford to, so agreed (you didn't have to since it's YOUR tree on YOUR land) and asked them to pay the bill since it's them that wants it cut in the first place, you would definitely be on MN complaining they're CF's because they won't pay the bill 🙂

You can cut back anything overhanging your garden. They don't have to let you take anything off the height. If you want to do that, you pay!

Our neighbour asked if they could pay to have a bough removed. Us contributing wasn't considered as they recognised all the benefit was for them. And we got the firewood logs.

When I moved into my flat (the upper flat in a two storey block), a huge willow tree growing in the garden of the big house behind us was literally FILLING the garden of my downstairs neighbour with its drooping branches (it is a very very small garden and her rotary washing line had willow branches coming right down to the lines and beyond). As well as this, it towered high above our roof and lots of its trailing branches were lying in the gutters and, on windy nights, scraped the roof over my bedroom and kept waking me up. So much needed cutting that there was no way I could afford it and the owner informed me they'd had it cut 4 or 5 years ago and didn't plan to do it again yet. I asked the council if they could intervene (some of our flats are council-owned and they are also the lessor for the rest of us). They sent their surveyor round who agreed it was damaging the roof and gave the tree owner notice to cut it back within 3 months. She promised she would. She did not and the surveyor had left the council so they didn't chase it up. I called them again and reactivated the matter but they weren't able to get the owner to do it so, in the end (after 18 months from original request), the council got a tree surgeon to drastically reduce the tree, presumably at their own (ultimately all of ours too) expense. Since then, I have been keeping our side under control by paying for a tree surgeon myself every 2-3 years. Last time, I dropped a note in on the big house dwellers to let them know I was getting our side done as I'm obliged to offer them the cuttings. They 'phoned me and said thanks for letting them know and they thought they'd like their own side done too and could I ask my tree surgeon how much he'd charge (CFs!). I realised they were going to suggest we split the bill in half but I had the feeling I'd end up paying more than I wanted to (the tree doesn't grow symmetrically and I didn't trust them). I gave them my tree surgeon contact details and left them to it but they hadn't organised it by time he came to do my bit.

They want me to pay, to cut their tree with very specific requirements!
I know legally we have no leg to stand on, the tree does not obstruct daylight from our house, but...SURELY I can expect my neighbour to be...reasonable and neighbourly and maintain a pretty big tree!? It's only going to get bigger!

Well that's your answer, not sure why you posted?

I wouldn't pay to have a tree of mine I liked and was happy with cut back or down.I love trees,enough get cut and I mostly want them left alone.
However because I try to be a good neighbour I might agree to a neighbour having my tree cut back if it was a big problem for them - don't see why I should pay for it though!

Of course you should pay because you’re the one asking for it to be cut. How bizarre

Our neighbours asked us to cut back a tree that was shading their garden. We were just going to thin it, but they asked it we could reduce the height (which was a bigger more expensive job) so they oaid the difference in price

What you're asking for isn't maintenance, it's more like cosmetic work, ie it's not necessary for the health of the tree. Since it's only you that wants it pruned back it's reasonable that you should pay for this work. Will the work suggested make a big difference to your garden? The surgeon might lift the crown, so more space under the tree, or thin the crown, which would make the shade more dappled rather than deep, or he might simply reduce the height, which will reduce the amount of shade cast over your garden, but wouldn't lighten it any.

Does the quote seem reasonable? Would it be worth it to you to have less shade? If it isn't, then you're back where you started - but you'll have less "right" to complain about it, as you have the chance now to do something about it.

Our NDN has got a walnut tree in their garden. It's around 20% over their garden and 80% covering ours hmm. It is protected by a TPO so when we had a dead branch over our side and young DC, we had to pay £100 for planning permission and £250 for a tree surgeon to remove it. All so our DC could use the garden

Firstly, there is no charge to apply for permission to prune or fell protected trees in the UK. Second, you don't need to apply for permission to remove dead branches from live trees. You don't even need to notify the council for this (although it can save a visit from an enforcement officer to check if you do tell them in advance). So, the law is not an ass in this respect.

YABU, you are the ones that want the tree cut for your benefit. The neighbours don’t sound like they particularly want it cut. Therefore you should pay.

@Hoopaloop same here. No planning fee for TPO tree work.
Not only do you not need permission cut remove dead wood, in exceptional circumstances a qualified tree surgeon can fell a living but diseased tree without planning. We had this done when tree man noticed a large fungal growth on one of our protected trees. It was down by the afternoon

Why do people buy houses and then start complaining as if these large trees have just sprung up overnight? And yes, trees grow, its what they do. They also provide habitat for wildlife, help prevent flooding, landslips and urban heat islands and help to combat air pollution. Oh yes, and soak up carbon dioxide and so help counter global warming.

You may have another shock to come too as if the tree is over a certain size at waist height a licence is needed to even touch it. No, not true. If it's in a Conservation Area and over a certain size 1.5m above the ground, you need permission to work on it, and if it has a TPO, not only do you need permission but the work has to be done by a qualified arboriculturalist, but otherwise there aren't any restrictions.

we had to pay £100 for planning permission Why? was this because you needed an arboriculturalist to prepare the application? The Council shouldn't be charging for the application.