Neighbour planted tree close to the house

[Ohnoohnoohnonononono]

My dad’s neighbour has planted a young silver birch tree close to the corner of his house. My dad is concerned that this tree is going to grow really big (Google says up to 30m!) and will:

1. Potentially affect the foundations of the house
2. Almost certainly increase his insurance premiums as he has just found out he has to declare it
3. Block out the light to the back of the house/garden

He hasn’t yet spoken to the neighbour about it but will. Does anyone here have any advice or experience please?

Could it be the neighbours looking for more privacy? I would encourage him to go into any conversation with a discussion about how they can maximise the neighbour's privacy whilst also minimising the risk to his house. They can also be grown as hedges so not necessarily going to become a tree.

We have one next door . It's huge . They bend in the wind and have shallow root system, as in the roots spread about foot underground - hence not very stable.
This monster next door is getting the chop as when it does go, it's got a choice of 4 private & 1 HA property to hit.
It's in the garden of the HA

A native silver birch is quite large, but he may have planted a himalayan birch, which are a mmuch sma!ler variety and often used in small gardens. I'd check first.

@Cattitudes I don’t think there is a privacy issue as there is a 6ft brick wall between the gardens. Both are bungalows so no overlooking from upstairs. Neither my dad or his neighbour spend a great deal of time in their gardens.

@drinkingwineoutofamug yikes that’s another aspect to it - it could fall over! It’s currently about 8-10ft tall but my dad really wants to sort it out before it gets too big. Did you ask your neighbours to prune their tree or cut it down? What was their reaction?

@Stickytreacle that’s a good point thank you. I didn’t know there was more than one type.

[quote Ohnoohnoohnonononono]@drinkingwineoutofamug yikes that’s another aspect to it - it could fall over! It’s currently about 8-10ft tall but my dad really wants to sort it out before it gets too big. Did you ask your neighbours to prune their tree or cut it down? What was their reaction?[/quote]
We are in a battle with the HA. They sent a tree surgeon to give estimate on removal. That was last year. They are now saying it's nesting season .
I have emailed many times and said that I hoped their insurance will cover damage to my property.
This started 10 years ago

@drinkingwineoutofamug oh god, I hope you get it resolved soon. Thanks for sharing your experience.

I looked at a house w subsidence once. Caused by trees. The man who lived there (now passed on) purposefully planted them close to his own house abd neighbours to upset them (so the neighbours say). The trees literally lifted this hiuse up from the ground. Going inside was like the house of horrors at the fairground.

Apparently neighbours just had to wait for him to 'leave'. Then they went straight in and chopped them down with no permission. I must say I don't blame them.......

@samosamo wowww yes I don’t blame them
either. Do you know where one would stand legally if they just chopped them down? Asking for a friend... uhh.. family member 😂

I had this problem with a silver birch, it definitely bent in the wind and was listing to one side. Thankfully the landlord chopped it down after a few pleading phone calls. Those trees belong in forests not gardens.

@drinkingwineoutofamug that tree would probably be fine if the ivy was removed and the crown lifted a bit.

A silver birch is unlikely to cause subsidence unless it’s really close. They’re so shallow rooted it’s ridiculous. They do however suddenly die and fall over or shed large limbs. We have loads.

@HasaDigaEebowai that’s reassuring to know they’re less likely to cause subsidence. The tree is probably 3m from the corner of the house. If it fell on the house it would fall on a dining room/kitchen/bathroom/bedroom depending on how tall it was and the angle 😬

I know your pain, a badly placed tree can be a complete nightmare!

Best to sort it whilst it's small.

Dead of night, keep painting the leaves with glyphosate - you'll kill it within a month if you do it right. Once it's dead, go round, tell them how sad you are that it died, and then give them another tree which is more to your liking to replace the one that 'didn't take'.

Simples!

A silver birch is also unlikely to block any/much light. It's a very airy tree.

I think any problems with it are likely to be many many years in the future

Erm, not wishing to be tactless, but how old is your dad? Very few trees shoot up quickly to massive heights, it may be if he is older that this is simply not a problem he should be worrying about.

@Didiusfalco he’s nearly 70 so old enough that it might not be a problem but equally, young enough that it could be! He also said he wanted to know what I thought because I’m sensible about these things and also that whatever happens it’s going to end up being my problem when he dies 😬😂 (as hopefully I will inherit the house)

@MyAltAccount when the branches are long enough to reach the leaves over the wall he might bear this in mind!

If his neighbour is a HA or Council tenant there could well be something in his lease about not planting trees.

I don't know about the specific tree but we are now having to get structural engineers and arborists to try and solve an issue with a tree that is at the back of our neighbours garden but is making a wall bow. The roots will be under our house so you can't remove the tree. Trees can cause major issues. I'd be wanting to understand how large the trees roots can be expected to grow.

I think it’s best to find out what kind of tree, also even in ten to twelve years it will only be about ten to fifteen feet.

Maybe he should try telling his neighbour that the neighbour also needs to declare it to his insurance company and pay more for his own house insurance - that might make the neighbour think a bit more seriously without your dad being seen to complain.

Also any branch that comes across your boundary line you can ruthlessly cut at the boundary. But you should offer to give the branch back to the neighbour.

My Mum has a silver birch in her back garden - about 10' from the rear of the house and right on the boundary with the adjoining semi. It was a mature tree when my parents bought the house in 1960. I think it was possibly planted when the house was originally built in the 1930's. It is regularly pruned, and has never caused any problems for either property. IT provides lovely dappled shade in the summer, and doesn't make the back of the house dark at all.

My insurance would be invalidated if I did that. I’ve just renewed it and one of the sections she talked through was “are there any 5m+ high trees within 5m of the property”.

I keep noticing loads of tall trees in people’s front gardens now!