UK Rules/laws on Hedges, Ivy & Roots Growing into our Garage

[lilnads97]

Hi,

My partner and I have recently bought our first property (leasehold) and on the second day of arriving to our new home, we received an email from the management company stating: " I want to bring to your attention the continue of your garage, photo below. The garage owner next door to you has been complaining of the ivy encroaching on to his roof and he is concerned if left this will cause damage to the roof. Are you able to get this cut back asap?"

My first thought was that shouldn't this have been dealt with by the previous owner, and why did they allow for it to get so bad?

I then started to be a bit of a detective and look on google maps to see whether the wall of the garage backs onto a garden. Based on the image, it appears that it does. So, would it be my responsibility to remove it or that of the owners of the garden behind? If mine, why aren't the other garages responsible for doing the same?

Appreciate the help, thank you!

*Beige Garage on the left is ours

The picture on the right is incorrect, the following picture is our garage on the right-hand side

So the ivy is growing over the garage of the person complaining and terminating on the roof of your garage but the roots are on a different (3rd) property?

Unless I've misunderstood. If I haven't then they've made a mistake. The responsibility may lie with the people who own the roots of the plant. But it might be down to the person bothered, who almost certainly have the right to cut back to the boundary.

Wow, what a welcome to the neighbourhood.

I'd just reply to the email with the photos and say it looks like the roots are coming from a different garden. And ask them to confirm that they've contacted that neighbour.

Write back and say that the ivy is coming from the garden of the property behind, and it is neither your ivy nor your responsibility.

I'm guessing that the other garage owner doesn't want to have to climb onto their rickety-looking garage roof and cut it back themselves, nor do they want to pay someone else to do it. So they are trying to pass the buck on to you.

Is the problem that you and your garage neighbour are under the remit of the management company but the ivy-root-grower isn't?
Nobody wants their garage consumed by ivy so I would try to cooperate with the MC and all join forces to eliminate the problem.
Have you checked your lease. Is this a freeholder or leaseholder problem?

Looks to me like the garage on the right has cut it back in the past, but the one on the left hasn’t (there’s quite a linear difference between the spread of ivy on both of them). So I’m sure the RH garage person is aware that the roots (haha) of the problem are in the garden behind, but if you both try to keep it cut back as much as you can it’ll help you both with the roof preservation.

If I were you I’d call round to the garage neighbour, commiserate about how bad it is on both roofs, moan about the garden behind, and tell them when you’re planning on cutting yours back - and ask them about theirs. Yes the prev owner should have done it but clearly wasn’t bothered about garage upkeep. So now it’s your issue!