Sycamore tree - to buy or not to buy house?

[Takeoutyourhen]

Established Sycamore at rear of garden - TPO dating from 1975.
House would otherwise appear to meet our needs BUT…

• in a west-facing garden, I’m concerned about light
• sticky sap - just on stuff underneath it or further afield like the whole garden…drying laundry, furniture?
• leaves and bark - okay, currently got a palm which sheds like billy-o but still got to think about it
• helicopter seedlings and saplings appearing everywhere- I’d love to get flower beds established
• storms and breakages, weaknesses
• the very fact it has a TPO led me to look up last approved works which were few and far between, some conditionally approved and refused which tells me looking after it is a pain in the bum and the costs are still ours.

Hmm, might have just told myself the likely cons but if anyone has any experience of such a tree in their garden, please do let me know! TY

They still need to be maintained, do you know what works were approved or declined, I would get a tree surgeon in first and contact the council but only if you're serious about buying. Do the vendors own the tree. The saplings grow really fast.

they don't still need to be "maintained". In most cases you cant touch a tree with a TPO. You would need permission and good reason (not just aesthetics/liight/nuisance) even to remove a branch.

The only way you can touch it is with a 5 day notice if it's dead or dangerous.

I have about 150 sycamore trees. They do produce seedlings like nobody's business and the pollen gets everywhere for a few weeks.

How close is it to the house? That's the key question.

I’ve got quite a few sycamore trees. They have only been an issue in very dry springs- normally the sap is washed away by the rain. The helicopters can be a pain - on the lawn they can be mown, you’d have to weed the beds. They’re poisonous to bunnies and horses (horses probably aren’t an issue in a garden!)! And possibly other small animals, so need pulling from their runs. I have a 3m x 2m run and it takes perhaps an hour once a year to pull the helicopter seeds out.

How big is the garden? We have a big one but we like it, as it's the only big tree in the garden. We have a large garden though so it doesn't shade the whole area.

One from 2011 included a request to remove a branch that was hanging low into a neighbouring garden and that was approved, plus reduction of the general lower branches to prevent further breakages as they were concerned about their 1 year old son in the garden (I also have one) which was refused.
One from 2016 wanted reduction of lower branches (circular?) which was approved plus a reduction in height from 17m to 12m which was refused.
Vendors own the tree but the TPO means it can’t be touched, even a snippet.

It looks like a long-ish garden and it’s right at the end. If it was around 17m high in 2016 and reduction in height request was refused, it’s likely to be taller. I’m just wondering whether when it is in full foliage that it might eclipse the sunlight and the canopy will feel like it’s towering over all of the garden. Plus neighbourly contentions could be a problem.
Good point about small animals, although I’d love to get a cat. One child and myself suffer from terrible hayfever but hard to pinpoint what causes it, definitely flowers for me.
Thanks.

I quite like finding the little seedlings in odd places😀. I park my car under the tree and the sap is an issue for a few weeks every spring and autumn.
Bits of bark and branches do drop off, but by the time they fall they are dry and brittle, and don’t cause damage.

If you're not going to love this tree then don't buy this house.

Amazing then that I have never had a problem getting permission to do maintenance work on any of my TPO trees.

What you should do is discuss with the tree officer initially (they can provide really helpful advice) and then use a reputable tree surgeon every few years to review them and recommend any work (or not if none is needed).

@Takeoutyourhen from your description it sounds like sensible work has been approved but no tree officer is likely to approve “removal of branches which are currently healthy because I have a toddler”.
Removal of branches because they are causing a specific problem or are in poor health is not likely to be an issue, it sounds like they have also previously approved crown lifting.
Permission to lop the top third of a mature deciduous tree could kill it - unlikely to be approved unless it is the type of tree which needs hard pruning/lopping every few years.

On a side note, my TPO trees are a haven for wildlife and birds, including several families of owls. They also provide precious shade in the ever hotter Summers.

Thanks all. Visiting the house tomorrow but unfortunately or perhaps purposefully by the agent, it’s a 17:15 viewing so seeing the garden clearly will be tricky.
I just wonder whether it’s the kind of thing that can be overlooked, the house positives outweighs the garden and tree negatives or whether it will actually have potential to be a complete nightmare.

Sycamores are generally regarded as nuisance trees, and I'm wondering why this one had a TPO put on it in the first place.

Have a look on Google Earth - with luck it will be in summer, and you'll be able to gauge the spread of the canopy.

We have a sycamore tree in our back garden, about 5m from the house.

We've lived here for almost 30 years and I don't recall doing any maintenance on it at all, apart from stripping ivy from it.

We don't have any sap problems, certainly insignificant compared to evergreens, and I find the fruits really attractive (awe and wonder). We do get saplings, but they are easy to pluck out - easier than dandelions, say.

We can't answer your questions here. You need an arborist to look at it.

I used to own a house with a sycamore tree right outside it. No TPO but council owned, so I couldn’t do anything to it. You are spot on with all the potential problems you list. Add to that list - bird poo all over everything underneath it.

So no I definitely wouldn’t buy this house. Having a TPO on it adds insult to injury - it’s on your land but you’re not even allowed to prune it without permission.

Why does a sycamore tree have a tpo in the first place? It's peculiar. Our neighbour has one, just on the other side of the bridlepath. It can't be removed because her house marks the entry to a disused road on which Henry VIII once rode his horse to Nonsuch Palace. He continues to be a thorn in people's sides. They'd like to take an axe to it as he did to his wives necks. They did get approval to significantly pollard and we supported their application (right to light) though it didn't bother us.

Paradoxically we had a large and lovely cedar tree - a thing of beauty - but the roots were causing havoc with the driveway. No TPO - just had it chopped down. It made a huge difference to ours and neighbour's light.

@Takeoutyourhen we have a couple of large horse chestnuts at the end of the garden. They are pollarded, hard, about every 5/6 years. It costs about £6/700 per tree.

Was the satellite photo taken in high summer? Will give you an idea of how much shade it throws.

I have three TPO trees none of them sycamore though. The leaves in the Autumn are everywhere but personally I love having them.

A friend bought a big house with quite a few mature trees with TPOs. I think it’s bugged her quite a lot, she can’t configure the garden the way she’d like , it’s v shady in parts. But I think now she’s learnt to live with it.

This tool is really good for predicting sun/shade in your garden. https://www.suncalc.org/#/27.6936,-97.5195,3/2026.01.13/17:32/1/3

I have trees in my garden and love them for the birdlife they bring. I also appreciate the shade now that summers can be so hot. They don't have make the garden dry in summer though and planting under them is an art all of its own. You very quickly learn what will thrive in dry shade.

We've never had a problem getting house insurance.

Thanks, having a look now. Annoyingly Google Earth has a great view of the trunk but spliced the canopy.
I expect as the property is right on the border of a conservation area, the council slapped on a TPO in 1975. I could understand if the tree was there before the house.

Good to know someone hasn’t had much issue with one, good point made about the bird poo though.

I know trees are valuable, especially in urban areas and provide shade, reduce heat in scorching summers and good for wildlife and biodiversity…it’s whether this non-native tree will cause more havoc than it’s worth. After all, buying (and selling) a property isn’t simple. Just need more space for my family and this house appears to tick this box.

Aw Henry VIII, what a swine!

@Takeoutyourhen Non native trees are sometimes TPO’d for amenity reasons. If its on the edge of a conservation area it could be public amenity reasons.

Talk to the tree officer if you can but talk to them in the context of asking what is involved in looking after and maintaining the tree, rather than how hard it can be chopped back. Tree officers IME want to work with the owners of TPO’d trees and respond positively to requests for advice on how to balance human and tree needs.

I'll swap your one for my 50, all effectively with TPO's.

You just have to watch out for the seedlings and pull them up. I've never seen any sap

I'll swap your one for my 50, all effectively with TPO's.

You just have to watch out for the seedlings and pull them up. I've never seen any sap

I have one. I dont really get the hate - it does drop twigs sometimes, but they're dry light things so no damage. Mostly it shades a path & field, not our garden. The endless seedlings are very quick to pull out so long as you do them whilst still small.
There's also a huge massive beech tree that isn't ours and has a TPO. It does cast shade, but I like the tree itself.
You can usually get work done on trees if you have good reason, most tree officers are pretty understanding and reasonable.
It depends on how big the garden is really!

Tree officers are obviously variable. I have 9 acres of TPOd woodland. They barely allow anything. Only if it’s dead or dangerous.