Neighbour's shrubs blocking our light

[QueenoftheNights]

I think I know the answer to this already but....

neighbours- been there about 6 years and are nice enough- have planted 3 buddleias right alongside the dividing fence between us at the front. Every year they grow to around 12 ft high and also spill over into my tiny front garden.

I know what I can do- cut off the overhanging branches and give back (ha ha) but the real issue is the shrubs are cutting out almost all my light in the dining room (it's north facing, window is close to the fence and we have a garage in front of the window, so reduced light anyway.)

It's not too bad in winter as they prune them, but in summer and autumn I need to put the light on in the dining room due to loss of light.

I have a feeling they might move before too long anyway- is there anything we could do with new neighbours or even these ones?

I don't think you'd get far with using the right to light unless you plan to take it to a solicitor. I only say this because our neighbours who are council tenants had 25 30ft conifers along the border. We emailed the council, it went back and forth for 2 years and they did nothing. In the end we paid for them to be cut down to 8-12ft as the tenant couldn't pay for it. The trees are still damaging the fencing so no point replacing them. It's a pain!

High hedges only applies to evergreen hedges/trees. I don't think a couple of buddleia will count! In any case, they can't make the neighbours cut them down to any less than 2m, and in most cases the amount they have to cut them down leaves the hedge significantly higher than that. They do a calculation of how much light the hedge is blocking, based on distance from the window, length of the hedge, height and orientation. That shows ideally what height the hedge should be from a light point of view. Then they have to assess how cutting to that height would affect the hedge - they can't make the hedge owner cut the hedge to such a degree that the hedge would be killed, so even if the light calculation said it was blocking out a load of light and needed to be cut to 3m, if the hedge was already 6m high, they'd probably say to cut it by about a third, to 4m - as that would be survivable for the hedge.

Much better would be to either remove your garage if you don't use it, or build one somewhere it doesn't block your light. And talk to your neighbours about the buddleia and offer to buy them some nice mature plants which won't grow above a certain height, and re-plant that bit of the border for them. It's no good chopping back the buddleia really, it grows so fast, you'll be on at the neighbours all the time. Resolve the problem more permanently, it'll be worth it in the end.

Much better would be to either remove your garage if you don't use it, or build one somewhere it doesn't block your light

Remove a double detached garage that is at the front of the house. Nope. Not use it? It's bursting at the seams and can't be removed for plenty of reasons.

I have no intention of upsetting them but as they appear to know nothing about gardening I will ask them nicely if they would prune them harder next time. They are only cutting off the flowering branches. I've had another look and the branches must be around 15 ft high.

We cut our buddleia black knight (I believe) right back every year, probably to less than 2ft and every year it grows back and stands around 9ft tall. But it doesn't impact anybody.

I would talk to them and get them into the room it shadows. The probably don't realise the impact.

When we moved into our house there was a huge 35ft silver birch way too big for the garden. Not only did it put our garden in shade for most of the day but also the neighbour's.

We had it removed completely and the neighbours thanked us. Maybe

Don't know where random maybe came from at the end they definitely thanked us.

Much better would be to either remove your garage if you don't use it, or build one somewhere it doesn't block your light

Seriously? You must be awash with cash if you'd do that rather than as, your neigbours to prune them.

Sorry to hijack your post but we have a huge tree overhanging the back of our garden. The people at the back have hacked it back so much that it is pretty much all over our garden and some to their neighbours at the back. It is so big now my son hits his head on it on the trampoline. I have chopped it back a bit but it is too tall for me to do properly. I am thinking of getting someone in to do, that is ok isn't it?. Thing is if we cut it back to even a little bit over our boundary it will end up being a trunk!! I never understand planting whopping great trees near a boundary. It would be quite a lovely tree but they have cut it back so much that all the have in their garden is the trunk so it is all lopsided!!!!! Sorry again for the hijack.

Bluntness it wasn't a comparison like "these 2 things will cost the same"! OP suggested the main light blocker is the garage - and some people have shitty ones that they don't use, or mobile ones like a metal shed but bigger. Obviously if it was like that then it'd solve the problem much more effectively than pissarsing around with the top 2ft of 2 straggly buddleia! But obviously a solidly built double garage chock full of crap is a much bigger job.

@someknobend Knocking down a double garage which is an integral part of the house plot (not attached to the house) is mad advice. Sorry. We are in a modern cul de sac with a shared access to other houses. Removing the garage would be against the land registry deeds and also take at least £50K off the house value even if it were allowed.

@Queenofthenights - I've already addressed this point in the very post before this one, did you really need to @ me about it? I'm not a bloody mind reader, if you drip feed after someone makes a suggestion, then obviously the suggestion might be irrelevant given the new information - as I already acknowledged.

There's no legal right to light which applies in the circumstances. Also, there are no grounds to complain to the council under ASBO (High hedges). Your best option is to speak with your neighbours and try to come up with a mutually beneficial compromise.

Off topic really, but what do you mean, 'Removing the garage would be against the land registry deeds'? It's your house - you can make changes although demolition does sometimes require planning permission. Anyway, I hope you get the plant issue sorted.