Neighbouring trees over my garden

[curlymom]

Hi, so we have lived in quite a lovely house for 21 years now. When we first moved in we had to make an arrangement with next door to carry out maintenance on a long row of leyladii as tall as our house on the boundary. They were nice and we were happy but a few years later they split up and a new couple moved in. Trees continued to get taller. Tried to talk to them and they whinged about wanting privacy and now my downstairs rooms are pretty much shade all day. The husband left her and we don’t talk to her now as she complained about some work we were proposing and it was just easier to avoid contact. What can we do? I’m not happy with this situation but we don’t communicate. AIBU to expect some light in my garden?

Here the RHS cover everything you need to know and do
www.rhs.org.uk/advice/profile?pid=408

I’m going to send a letter and see how it goes. I’m not asking for her to cut them down, just reduce them a bit, surely that’s reasonable?

Frankly I would go for broke if I were you, since its going to piss her off doing anything. Say you want her to comply with the hedge law. Then you have room to negotiate a bit if necessary.

You might be able to find a suitable template letter on the Gardenlaw site, OP.

Hedges that high are ridiculous. My brother had similar and left it. When he wanted to build and extension it cost him a fortune in additional foundations and reinforcing..and these were leylandi.

I would send a letter as suggested and then if she refuses go to the council. Remember though that it will be classed as a dispute if you chose to sel, so need to declare it

She didn’t have a crystal ball which told her that 20 years later a different owner would not maintain their hedge.

Dontsweatthelittlestuff No, but one would hope she’d have the common sense to think the same neighbours aren’t going to live there forever and any future ones will not behave in exactly the same manner.

I really want you to go away. You are the only person who has nothing nice to say. There are laws against overgrown hedges and people are being helpful giving advice. Of course things change over the years but people are responsible in maintaining their property. If I let my property get overgrown I would also be accountable.
There are lots of other threads on mumsnet please waste your time somewhere else.

MarieG10 yes I had considered the fact that it becomes a dispute but of course she would need to worry about that too if she intends on selling in future so I see that as a positive as she is more likely to want to resolve, thanks for the advice

LakieLady looking for templates now thanks

If it’s likely to cost hundreds, what happens if she can’t afford to pay? You say she’s been left by her husband, we’re all dealing with the consequences of the virus meaning there’s. a higher chance than usual that she’d struggle to pay, I don’t think it would be very kind to contact her about it right now. If it’s bothering you to this extent, I think you should arrange and pay for it yourself, with her permission obviously.

Hi yes of course if I started the enquiry I would ask for something within the next year. We live in a very well to do area and she buys new cars etc and has a gardener in most of the summer. Money is not an issue. But no I wouldn’t expect anything soon, just to get the message really . I forgot to mention she has a gardener tidy it up twice a year on her side so she does have someone in looking after the trees.

Also if she couldn’t afford it she could ask us to help but she wouldn’t do that

You can have a hedge higher than 2m if you can show it doesn't impact on your neighbour. Part of our hedge is 5m high (borders empty land) and our neighbour's hedge on our shared boundary is 4m high in places.

The issue arises when the hedge interferes with your light. Look at your local council's website for high hedge matters. You may have a case for asking them to trim the hedge back (note that there is no guarantee that the council will ask them to cut it back to 2m high - it depends on the size and position of the hedge).

We had this situation with a neighbour at our old place. Hedge was taller than a 3 storey building!! Most councils will want proof that you have tried to negotiate with the neighbour first. We sent a letter to ours, saying that we wanted an amicable solution but that if an agreement could not be reached then we would go to the council. We also enclosed photos of the hedge from our side of the boundary, which showed how badly overshadowed we were. After a lot of negotiation they cut it back to 4m and reduced the width which made a big difference.

Another thread where the grumps won't leave it alone. MN is becoming so snarky.

Thanks Fallonswift, it’s interesting to hear someone who and the same experience and the outcome. I do appreciate the hedge can be higher than 2 meters, this one is above 15m at the moment and even if 5 metres were removed I would be overjoyed. I will take the advise of a lovely little with the addition of the ultimate outcome of action to council. I would go for 5 metres next to empty land too. Thanks

Sorry I don’t often post here. What does MN mean?

Oh mumsnet, doh, sorry 😂

My advice would be keep the letter formal, but as friendly as you can make it. We did point out though that this was a letter required as part of the high hedge process and that if the neighbour was unwilling to co-operate then a copy of the letter would be included in the referral to the council asking them to formally intervene.

Then why would you post in AIBU if you’re not willing to hear YABU?

Yeah that never happens on AIBU :-)

Another thread where the grumps won't leave it alone. MN is becoming so snarky.

This is AIBU, the whole point is discussion. There's a world of difference between this thread and the offencemongers shrieking on other threads.

FWIW I don't think YABU OP but I would not contact them about it until the current dramas have subsided a bit.

So you actually said that in the letter? I want to say that too. I also want to ask her to reply in writing. We have and it with her coming over and screaming the odds

I do agree the timing is rubbish. But if my letter is ready I will be ready to send it at the right time. Thx

On a side note, I think the grumps just look for somewhere to moan. I can’t be bothered with them

@curlymom

Have a look at this link which goes into the overall situation

www.inbrief.co.uk/neighbour-disputes/trees-blocking-light/

That’s amazing! Thanks I have so much reading to do. Good job as I am not going anywhere for a few weeks .

Yes we did. It was a few years ago now so can't remember the exact wording but it was something along the lines of council has rules around high hedges, but we are keen to try and resolve this amicably with you first. However if we cannot reach an agreement with you we will contact the council's environmental department and provide copies of our correspondence with you, as evidence that we have tried to resolve the issue directly.