Tree in our garden close to neighbouring house

[twomonkeys2]

I'm looking for some advice please.

We have a small London garden with a beautiful silver birch tree at the far end. The boundary of the end of our garden is the side of another house. Since moving in 12 years ago, the silver birch has grown substantially from about 8-10ft tall to now almost reaching the top of the neighbouring house. It's about two feet from the neighbouring house.

We employ a tree surgeon annually to keep the height/crown of the tree down, but the trunk continues to grow and is now a good foot wide. Every time the tree surgeon comes I ask them about the tree's proximity to the neighbouring house and my concern over whether the roots could do damage to their foundations and they always say don't worry, the roots are shallow. But I'm still worried. How liable would we be? Would our home insurance cover this and if not, what should I do?

Anyone have any experience about this sort of thing?

Thank you for reading!

Is the tree surgeon qualified?
If they are experienced and have the relevant qualifications I would be inclined to believe them.
It is their job after all.

Have you actually spoken to the neighbour about it?
They might actually really like the tree.

My neighbours regularly top their trees, it drives me crackers as I like the privacy and not being able to see the houses beyond!

We have a paper birch that was already mature when we moved here 10+ years ago. It is planted inches from the edge of a retained bank and has caused no damage to the retaining wall. We had the lawn stripped for re-turfing a couple of years ago which exposed the shallow root system. I would trust the tree surgeon on this.

More likely to cause damage if you are on clay as the roots will suck the moisture from the soil and could cause shrinkage

subsidencebureau.com/trees-distances/

Will give a good indication of any possible risks

Thank you all for the experiences.

Yes the tree surgeons are qualified and have a good and wide reputation locally.

The neighbours don’t see the tree actually as it’s the side of their house that backs our garden and there are no windows.

We are loam soil here so perhaps I am worrying needlessly.

Thank you all for your thoughts they really help. :-)

Get the tree surgeon’s advice in writing just in case. And keep records of all the work on the tree. You should be covered by insurance - they would be if your tree fell on to their house - provided you’ve not been negligent. But check your policy document to be sure.

Try not to overreact - the urban landscape needs all the trees it can get, aesthetically and ecologically