Neighbours ivy growing up into our house and onto our thatched roof - whose responsibility?

[Biosblbay]

We are getting our garden done and the landscapers have just cut back all of the trees/ weeds/ shrubs and ivy growing from our neighbours garden into ours. His garden is very overgrown and we have been living here over a year and never seen him outside.
Where they have cut it all back we are able to see down a very narrow section down the side of our house that the ivy from his garden is growing all up the side of our house, up the roof (we have thatch as well so I can image this to be very damaging) and and by the looks of it the ivy looks as if it is growing inside our roof. The landscaper said we need to knock on his door and request access to his garden so we can remove the ivy, but what happens if the ivy has caused damage? Is this our responsibility or the neighbours? Unsure on this matter as it’s the first time being in this situation. Thanks in advance

Do you have household insurance that would cover this

Did you have a roof survey when you bought the house, did anything show up then.

We had similar with an elderly neighbour. To be honest, DH just offered to cut it back himself with their agreement. He also now does their side of the hedge too. But, of course, you need to talk to the neighbour to get access, but if money is an issue, just do it yourselves every year.

legally speaking if the plant is growing from the neighbours side then they become liable for any damage caused to your property but it is not their responsibility to prevent stuff growing through from their side.

you are expected to "reasonably foresee" the risk of damage and to take whatever mitigating action you can on your side to reduce the potential for damage. Failure to do so is a potential legal defence for the neighbour if you then claim against them for damage done by their plant but you did nothing about it.

However, in your case, whilst you have foreseen the problem, access prevents you undertaking your own mitigating actions.
Nonetheless, your contractor is correct that you must obtain permission from your neighbour to access the area from their side to remove it from your wall.
Technically of course you cannot destroy anything (including roots) that is growing on their side as that is damage to their property, not yours.

As ever with boundary disputes always start with a cup of tea and a plate of biscuits whilst discussing how to mutually proceed. Going in with talk of "rights" is counter productive.

Outwith the legal question, I’ll offer a tip on removing the ivy since we’ve had to deal with that on a property we’ve been renovating.

As tempting as it is to cut it off at the bottom and then pull it off, that’s the wrong way round. Once you cut the ivy it will start to dry out, become less flexible, and tighten onto whatever it’s clinging to. Whereas if you pull it down off the structure and only then cut it back, it often comes away tidily like a carpet from the side of the building.

We learned this from the PILs and it saved us a great deal of hassle and swearing.

Ivy is very invasive OP and on thatch I expect it feels like it’s in heaven