Ivy from next door growing up garage and into roof?

[user1467297746]

Looking at a house that we absolutely love!

its pretty much checked every box! if I was to be a bit critical I would say the garden is the smallest we could settle for..

The garage is attached to the house - but it forms the the border with the neighbours front garden. And they have planted ivy which has grown up the wall and is even entering the dilapidated roof of the garage

The roof of the garage is ancient and probably asbestoes, we are totally planning to try and convert the garage into habitable space- it already houses and "outside" loo - suspect the garage was added on much later..

Is the Ivy issue going to be tricky to deal with? are there legal issues?

Put in an offer and fingers X'd!

I take it you are assuming the ivy has actually been planted by the neighbours?

Technically the neighbours shouldn't affix anything to the wall of the garage without the garage owner's permission. Obviously, as you know, ivy can cause damage to the structure. Can you speak to the neighbours and see if they would be happy to have the ivy removed? Depending on their response you can then make it a condition of purchase that the vendor removes the ivy and repairs the damage. If the neighbours aren't amenable the vendors will need to get a court order to access the wall and fix things. That could delay the purchase process and mean you get off on the wrong foot with the neighbours - even though they are in the wrong.

You could offer to replace it with something else to screen the garage wall from their side without causing the damage ivy does.

We think the roof of the garage might actually be dangerous in that area since I can see wobbly bricks that look like they might blow down in a gale.

Since it would be our responsibility I suspect if that happens cant we just hack the Ivy down unilaterally?

I've set out what I think the options are - the problem with hacking it down unilaterally without any consultation with the neighbours is that it may cause problems which may make living there unpleasant. Tea and cake and a chat are the way to go. Or just make it a condition of purchase and get the vendor to do it. You'll need to check it has been done before exchange.

Sounds like a plan! Actually I quite like the look of the ivy - it does look much better and I think we would be amenable to it as long as its kept away from the gutters.. So i think I we would just be in the realm of trimming it back a bit.. Would absolutely be necessary since its actually growing in thru the roof!!!!

I suspect I might even have to get on to the gardening threads once we get a pace having never had my own garden before!!

We had ivy on our old house. An absolute bear to get rid of (previous owners planted it ), and literally full of spiders.

I've hacked it back here too - our vendors have to have rendering redone because of the damage it caused yet were still allowing it to grow up the same bit of wall. Madness.