Neighbour’s tree leaning on summer house.

[Karwomannghia]

Just wondered if anyone had any experience of the best way to deal with this?
Our neighbours behind have 3 beautiful very tall trees that we love to see out of our bedroom window.
Anyway I felt a few months back that the middle one was leaning forward slightly but dismissed it as just my perspective because it’s so tall.
But went into the summer house at the bottom of our garden for the first time in ages and there was a creaky sound. Turns out the tree is actually now leaning on the summer house and pushing up the felt on the roof. I imagine it’s pushing on the summer house as well which to be fair is old but we were hoping to rejuvenate it this spring.
Obviously we need to approach the neighbours. What do we want them to do? Whose responsibility is it? Any advice as to how to deal with this in the best way?

Let them know you intend to cut it back because of the damage it is causing.

It’s beyond that. It’s not branches, it’s the trunk and it’s huge. It’s a big job.

I would talk to them and show them, they don't have to offer to fix it but you have the right to cut back anything that over hangs so if they won't get a tree surgeon to it you can, unless it has a TPO on it (tree protection order - ask the council of neighbours aren't cooperative).

Ah, ok. If their tree is causing damage then I would assume it is their issue but they may not be accommodating. Speak to them first and ask them for a solution.

Yes I know we need to talk to them, I was looking for advice on the detail, would it need some sort of survey? Would we be expected to contribute to costs? What about possible damage to our summer house? Has anyone else had something similar?

As far as the law goes they would be liable for the costs of damage to the summerhouse but don't have to remove the tree. Branches and roots can be cut back by you but you can't cut anything on their land (ie the whole tree!).

If there's a dispute you'd need an arborist to look at the tree and a chartered surveyor to look at the damage (overkill for a summer house perhaps but depends on its construction..).

I’m also concerned about it actually falling fully onto our summer house and into our garden. The tree is leaning and the trunk is against the summer house. It would be impossible for us to cut anything back. When I say tall I mean taller than our house.

If there is a tall tree within falling distance of your home, then that may also impact your home insurance - I know mine have already asked me if we have any tall trees nearby. Maybe worth checking with them?

Get a tree surgeon in to check tree is dangerous than send polite letter to neighbour saying something like "I am really sorry but your tree is in danger of falling & causing damage & I have to ask you to remove it - if it does fall unfortunately you will be liable"

Speak to them and show them what's happening, confirm this in writing afterwards. Hopefully they're reasonable people and will take preventative action. We had something similar ourselves and we were lucky that our neighbour got the tree surgeon to sort out his trees pretty much immediately. One had blown down in a storm, blocked the road and brought down the phone and power lines. It missed our and our neighbours house by inches and it really could have killed someone. Frightened us all! Good luck.

Their house insurance should cover it if they have some, this means you can pop round and discuss with them (they probably have no idea there's an issue or what to do about it either)
If they are happy to put it through to their insurance then you can ask yours to deal with your side of it.
The other option is to go outside of insurance and you just resolve it informally.

We’ve been round but they’re not in. Will try later. I’m sure they don’t know, the trees are in a kind of forgotten bit of their garden. I do know a few years ago some different neighbours asked them to contribute to the cost of cutting down branches because they were blocking light to their garden and they refused to pay anything but allowed the work to happen.