Advice On Tall Trees

[Paul2023]

Some advice appreciated.

Bit complicated but here goes;

I live in a cul de sac and have done so for seven year. If you look out of our back garden on the right hand side is our fence. In the other side of this fence there is public walkway, normal alleyway width and runs right along the side of our house.

On the other side of the alleyway there is a fence. Just on the inside of that fence are trees, which gives a natural barrier of sight to our house and the flats. However , the trees are very tall and some of the branches which are very high up are encroached over into our garden. But they are high, as I stated , the only way to cut the branches back and lower the height of the trees is to get professional tree surgeons in.

But these flats are managed by a local estate agent and the landlords are in London, or did when I last emailed them in 2020. I payed to get their address of land registration and they never replied to my letter.

After finding out who owned the flats ( in 2020) I then found out who managed them, after speaking to a man cutting their grass.

Whilst this was going on I contacted the council who advised me to contact the highways agency for our county. They eventually sent a steward over who apparently said the vegetation needed cutting back.

I should add, vegetation from the lower branches of these trees were started to block the alleyway. The management company must have authorised something, because a few weeks later a guy came along and cut back some of the branches and vegetation so pedestrians could access the alleyway again without ducking.

However, this was just a young guy with a chainsaw who only cut branches at head height. They didn’t send actual tree surgeons around to cut the height of the trees.

Over the last two years I’ve sent numerous emails to the estates agents and recently the highways agency again. In my email to the agency who manage the property, I explained everything again, including pictures.

The tall trees block sunlight into our garden significantly. Although I don’t think legally this counts for anything?

However , branches and debris from the tall trees fall into our garden and I’m concerned about the height. What if in strong winds the trees fell? Fall into our house ? Cause death?!

Recently I chased up the estate agents again after not hearing from them for three months. They replied back within a few hours saying that the landlord isnt concerned with the height of the trees but will send a tree surgeon around to take a look..

I won’t hold my breath . Yesterday called the highways to log it. They said they’d send a steward to assess ( again ).Today I sent an email to the CEO of the county’s hiThat’s agency explaining the situation.

What can I do next ? Email the estate agents MD ? Will they care ? Leave a negative but truthful Google review? Contact my local MP? Can they do anything?

These issues will surely get worse if not addressed and I am also worried would make my house hard to sell in the future..

How tall are the trees and what is the distance from the edge of your garden to the trunk of the nearest tree? How many are there and are they evergreen or deciduous?

Maybe try a legal thread? I believe that if tree branches come onto your property you could deal with them but I don't know what responsibility the landlord has.
You could try environmental health at the council: try to make a case with them that it's an environmental matter?

Height hard to say maybe 50 ft tall.. Taller than the house anyway. Theres about 4 or 5 trees but they are big They do shed leaves but not totally so there’s still some leaves during the winter.

Well the trunks of the trees are just over the other side of their fence and the alleyway is normal width. Probably 8ft from my fence line?

Not a great photo but I’m stood with my fence just to my right. My right shoulder is basically next to my fence.The camera is pointing upwards, with the branches high up over head.

You can cut back branches up to your property line unless there is a tpo or other protection (conservation area or whatever) covering the trees.

Otherwise unless you have reason to think they are dangerous I'm not sure there is much you can or should do. Trees are good. They absorb CO2, help prevent flooding, provide wildlife habitat, etc. embrace the trees!

You can cut them back but as far as I know the cut off brances belong to the owner of the tress so you can simply throw then over onto their land.

I can’t cut them back because they are too high , I’d have to pay a tree surgeon. They belong to flats though so not my trees.

I dont want them cutting down just cut back ,due to the height. They also completely block out sunlight on one side of my garden.

Then hire a tree surgeon. Unless they are dangerous your neighbours are not obliged to do anything.

But my point is I believe they are dangerously high, and will only get taller. And the branches will only encroach my property even more as they grow..

Yes maybe they’ll get taller and bigger…. And at some point when they’re about 200 yrs old they may even get dangerous, But it’s your responsibility to cut the overhang if you want it done, not the property owner. Those are the rules

What do you mean dangerously high? It's what trees do, they grow. They're not really likely to be dangerous just because they've grown.

Can this thread be moved to legal?

"And at some point when they’re about 200 yrs old they may even get dangerous"

Well. It depends. On species, location, any root damage due to eg building works or altered soil levels, water table and drainage nearby, previous damage due to storms, vandalism or crap previous tree work, the trees' relationship to each other, presence or absence of disease and the telltale signs of such, form of the trees eg codominant stems at poor unions, heavy extended limbs, unbalanced canopy etc.

Which is why trees in or overhanging public places like this must be surveyed (not just "take a look- a proper survey with a metal numbered tag on each tree corresponding to comments on that tree, the hazard it may represent, action to be taken and high/medium/low urgency rating on that action for each tree ) at least every two years , by law. Can you tell I've spent days and days of my life I'll never get back, typing up tree reports for my arb DH??

The person whose land the trees are on is responsible for commissioning and paying for the tree survey, and acting upon the recommendations in the report in a timely fashion.

Trees that size could well be under a Tree Protection Order from you Local Authority. This means the owners of the land are restricted on what they can do with the trees without permission of the LA. In my area, any gardening or company that works with trees won't touch them without evidence they are not under a TPO because they would be subject to very big fine. Any work to the trees needs to approved and done by approved contractor. I'm not sure if this supercedes your rights to deal with limbs, etc, overhanging your garden. You'd need to check with the Local Authority (start with the planning department).

You need to persist with leaseholder of the land and their management company if relevant.

" at least every two years "

*edit- not necessarily every 2 years- depends largely on area the trees are in .

They look like gorgeous trees and great for wildlife. The shade is just something you need to live with.

You can ask about a survey to check they are safe. But otherwise, enjoy them.

https://www.hse.gov.uk/foi/internalops/sims/ag_food/010705.htm

^hmm seems like DH might be overstating the legal case. I'd still ask when they were last surveyed.

What law you are referring to?

X-post. The only duties I can think of applying are general ones under the Occupiers Liability Acts.

@Paul2023 They probably need their crowns reduced. I’m struggling to work out what the tree is - the tallest one. I would also ask your local councillor to help pursue this. Mostly councils have no money so don’t care. As they don’t belong to you, it’s very difficult to get anything done. Trees do need help to keep healthy and they should not be enormous in a residential area so be a nuisance with the councillors!

Sadly, I too had to get a bit obsessed with a neighbour's back garden, poorly maintained tree.
I found out that my local London council has a Tree Officer who was very well informed so it may be worth seeing if there's one in your area. Also, my neighbour tried to get a Tree Protection Order but the Tree Officer refused it. I also found out that there is no 'right to light' so I couldn't get her to reduce it substantially so in the end, I sent a legal letter and she now gets it cut about every 18 months.
I throw leaves etc over to her side.

If you are happy to pay for the work then the owners of the trees may well agree to you have some substantial reduction work carried out. If not then all you can do is ask and it sounds like you have done that and they have decided that they don't want to do any work of the trees. Which is completely reasonable if they are healthy.
We live next to an estate with lots of trees and we have only been able to get work done on the trees by paying and asking their permission with the exception of dangerous trees (diseased or damaged), which they have removed at their expense.
Be aware that getting a tree of that size pruned will be £1000 at least.

The owners are landlords based in London, we’re about 60 miles away. They landlords don’t give a monkeys about the trees, the chances are they don’t even know they even exist.
They don’t want to pay for any works unless they really have to. Why would they care about a resident complaining about some trees when they don’t have to deal with me? They also are basing their opinions on some photos that they may or may not have got from the management company , who I passed the photos onto.

Is it best for me to continue to pester the local agents ? Legally they might not have to do anything, but maybe for good relations the management company will do something, although this is highly unlikely as they previously said they can’t do anything without the approval of the landlord. Landlords of apartments blocks don’t do work to be kind. It’s a business to them.

They always seem to reply to negative google reviews ( the management company ) so maybe they may take notice of that ? I’ll leave my proper name so they can completely see who it is.

Legal or not, I think it’s reasonable to ask that trees are crowned, I’ve been here seven years and they’ve never done that since I’ve lived here , so it’s not like it’s a regular thing.

Would me seeking legal advice be a waste of time ?

They don't need to be crowned though. Trees grow fine without any maintainence unless they are damaged or diseased. Sorry to disappoint you but I don't think you have a leg to stand on asking them to prune their own trees when there is no need for them to do it.