Ivy removal - who pays?

[WoolyMammoth55]

Hi all, very grateful for any knowledgeable legal input.

We own a ground floor flat in a converted Victorian house. The flat above has recently sold.

The new owners have contacted us to request that ivy on the exterior of the building be removed at our expense as it is blocking the light from one of their windows.

The ivy is very well-established, and no doubt decades old. We did not plant it; in fact one of the first things we did as owners of the ground floor property was to sever it at the roots. Despite this, it's still flourishing, almost a decade on. I think it is self-sustaining from the sucker-like roots in the wall (but I'm no horticulture expert!)

We don't have much spare cash right now and would like to civilly refuse this request but offer them access to the wall to pay for the removal themselves.

Is this an acceptable compromise or is it our responsibility to pay for the removal?

Thanks for any advice!

But the Ivy doesn’t belong to the new person’s flat. It belongs to the building. So the owner are all liable. As they would be for the roof! Yes it does need removing. It’s invasive and not acceptable on a building.

We have a couple of ‘share of freehold’ flats. This sounds like it would be very much a stated cost and would typically be paid for out of accumulated monthly contributions (we all pay £200 / month and it builds up etc.). It doesn’t sound like you have reserve funds but that doesn’t change who’s responsible.

You all need to agree to the work being done and then typically the person who is driving it would get 3 quotes and you’d all contribute. Depending on the quotes, you might all agree it’s better to do a better job of killing it (by severing the stems properly) and then just trimming it back so it doesn’t block their light anymore.

You could also check your lease to see what type of work you are obliged to do and what is optional.

"The ivy's roots are not on our property so can't help you with this"

So, there's killing vs doing a radical cut back.

And the roots aren't anywhere on your property?

Ivy can't self sustain, but in my experience you can cut it back to the roots and the damn stuff will regrow back to where it started in a couple of years. But it needs roots to do that - it can't self-sustain.

I would

• cut it back as close to the roots as you can get
• do what PP said and cut each growing stem in two places - ie cut it close to the roots and cut it again about a foot above and rip off the bit between the cuts
• in a matter of weeks the stuff above the cuts will die back and you can peel it off pretty easily
• if the house is sound it won't do any damage at all
• rinse and repeat over the coming years

Peeling off dead Ivy is quite enjoyable, but wear some sort of eye protection, IME it rains dust onto your upturned face.

I think be honest and say sorry the roots aren’t coming from our patio and we don’t own the land, however happy for you to have access to deal with it

It's pretty clear that this is a freehold problem. You've cut back the roots so they are not on your part of the property. So just simply state that the ivy is not growing from your property and that you suggest they bring it up at the next freehold meeting as a discussion point. At the meeting you can then discuss quotes/timing etc and vote on whether to remove it

Also don’t be made a mug of op. They will know it’s not your problem they just don’t want to pay for removal. Be polite but firm.

Peeling off ivy, especially ivy as old as yours sounds, generally leaves permanent marks on the wall.

I would see this as an issue for all the freeholders to decide on, given your flats are share of freehold, rather than just down to you in the downstairs flat. And definitely get professional advice for the group to discuss.

Personally can't see why they don't just pull down the bits near their windows.

They sound like PITA neighbours. I think you need to be wary of agreeing to any more requests without careful thought.

I'd have declined to pay for the cleaner.

It’s a problem for everyone. It’s all the owners who need to deal with it. There should be a fund. Or an understanding to share the cost as with a roof.

I’d reply that to the best of your knowledge there are no ivy roots on your property.

Tbh I think they’re being a bit cheeky and you need to start resisting or they’ll demand all kinds of things.

If they think there’s a real issue and the ivy needs to be removed they can raise it at a freeholder meeting.

Being kind, they may have no experience of share of freehold.

I used to live in flats like these and found it very frustrating we could never have the stairs repainted as the pro-paint group was always outvoted 4-3 for years.

If you're in Scotland then it would most likely be treated as common and would fall to all owners in the block, depending on the title deeds. If you have a factor they can arrange this and charge all owners the correct apportionment.

If in England I think it would be the property manager to arrange this work.

Ivy is an invasive species and difficult to remove, it would need to be removed and then treated with chemicals to prevent re-growth.

@MrsBellamy We are freeholders of a flat in London along with 3 others. We don’t have a property manager. We put forward ideas for maintenance and improvement snd everyone pays their share. We’ve had Virginia creeper in the guttering and we all paid our share to have it removed. It’s just the best solution to preserve the function of the building. The same should happen to the Ivy.

We use email or teams for brief meetings. We don’t see each other very often and two of us don’t live there. We just would agree to remove the Ivy but if people don’t have money they need to put into a fund each month. As a freeholder in a flat you have responsibilities. Someone wanting Ivy removed is not being awkward.

I work in factoring in Scotland, so not too familiar with English property law, but I would imagine that freeholders work in a similar way to owners of common property in Scotland.

I didn't suggest that anyone was being awkward, was just trying to help.

Ivy does cause damage so I'd look at getting rid before you have a more expensive issue

I think it's more accurate to say Ivy can cause damage. It depends on the type of ivy, the size of the plant and the age/construction of the building.

Another reason to collectively seek professional advice.

Do come back and let us know how this plays out OP. I have a feeling that your new neighbours are naive first time buyers who haven’t quite learned how the world works…

I’m not sure if it’s a cause and effect thing or not but every house I know that has Ivy on the walls has had loads of massive spiders!

Yes, and that is probably the real treason that the neighbours have asked for it to be removed, since they can surely just trim it back round their window?

Thanks all for the help! It's a huge relief to see that no one has jumped to the same assumption as neighbours, that we as the ground floor flat are solely responsible for the ivy maintenance/removal.

I sent a firm but very polite email back explaining that the ivy is several decades old and roots to our patio are severed, and that to the best of my understanding any works required to remove it and make good, or even just to maintain the ivy, are shared between freeholders.

I suggested trimming the overhang themselves in the first instance, but also said that we are happy to give access to the patio if they want to get any professional advice and then to raise it at a quick freeholders meeting to discuss options.

Nothing back yet so fingers crossed! Again, thanks to everyone for the support and advice.

Good luck!

Actually, thinking about it, you should not have severed the roots of the ivy yourselves when you moved in, without agreement from the other freeholders, who may have felt it was a desirable cosmetic feature. You were lucky it didn’t die!

I take your point! We sort of did get verbal approval from other freeholders before we did it, just in very casual "mentioned it in the hallway" style - but luckily both the other flats have sold since then.

The current co-freeholders bought after the roots were severed... So I don't think we have wronged the current crop of housemates, at least!

This js what I would say.