How to get neighbour to remove massive conifers?
Discussion
Basically I have just bought a new house - a 3 storey townhouse - in the neighbours garden (separated by a access path) are two/three huge conifers - they grow above my roofline so must be 50ft plus. They must have been there since the house was built. They take out quite a lot of sunlight in my garden, as well as dropping crap on my decking.
The owning property is rented out - not even sure what language the tenants speak as I have not really seen them. I shall be approaching the landlord once I find out who he is, although I may not be too popular with him, as I gaumped him on my house, as he was in the middle of buying it when I stepped in.
Do I have a 'right to light' so to speak? Is there any way I can force the landlord to do something about the trees? Previous owners of my house have cut back some foliage above the decking, but only about 10ft up, still massively overshadowing my garden.
The owning property is rented out - not even sure what language the tenants speak as I have not really seen them. I shall be approaching the landlord once I find out who he is, although I may not be too popular with him, as I gaumped him on my house, as he was in the middle of buying it when I stepped in.
Do I have a 'right to light' so to speak? Is there any way I can force the landlord to do something about the trees? Previous owners of my house have cut back some foliage above the decking, but only about 10ft up, still massively overshadowing my garden.
mybrainhurts said:
Are you on a slope? If so, think carefully, as the trees have been sucking up water that won't be sucked up if they're not there. In those circumstances, land starts to move.
Bitter experience speaking here....
Nope - flat on the Fens. The conifers are in a quadrant of houses - overlooked on all sides - removing them will mean my garden is a bit more overlooked, but I want the sunlight (and less dead confier crap on my garden) Bitter experience speaking here....
el stovey said:
You bought the house (which the neighbour was in the process of buying) and presumably saw the conifers but still went through with the purchase.
Now you are seeking to have them cut back? Won't the neighbour (or landlord) tell you to f
k off? It's not like they've just been planted.
I can't see this going well.
Yes, I bought a house knowing the neighbours had large conifers in their garden. Now you are seeking to have them cut back? Won't the neighbour (or landlord) tell you to f
k off? It's not like they've just been planted. I can't see this going well.
Yes, I would like them cutting back, as they are massively high, and block some light from my garden. The landlord of the property can't exactly have missed them, but he has only had the place for 2-3 years, so I doubt anyone has asked him about them, and definitely not recently.
If they aren't cut back, it's not the end of the world - more important things to do at the moment, like fix all the bodges previous owners made, but ultimately I would like them down / gone.
megaphone said:
The landlord of the neighbouring house probably couldn't care less about the trees, he doesn't live there and is only interested in getting his rent.
The tenants probably couldn't care less, it's not their house or garden, but ask them what they think.
So it's unlikely you'll get too much resistance to the idea of removing them but who is going to pay? I doubt the landlord or the tenant will cough for the reasons above, will you? Because I think that will be your only option.
I suspect you are right. Will I pay? Unlikely - my current budget does not allow for this expense - given the only access is via a footpath, and the trees are surrounded on all sides by residential gardens, there is no possibility of machine access, meaning it will have to be all done by ladder / ropes and harnesses rather than cherry picker or crane. Given the height and size of branches, I can't see this being a one or two day job. The tenants probably couldn't care less, it's not their house or garden, but ask them what they think.
So it's unlikely you'll get too much resistance to the idea of removing them but who is going to pay? I doubt the landlord or the tenant will cough for the reasons above, will you? Because I think that will be your only option.
Edited by megaphone on Monday 25th February 11:31
What I will, however, do, is cut the trees back to my boundary line as high up as I possibly can, and then speak to other neighbours whose garden is affected in the same way, and see if they would object to the same thing being done. This will make the trees ugly and mis-shapen, but will allow a substantial amount more light into gardens.
I think the biggest issue will be that the landlord won't care less as he still gets his rent. The property has turned over new tenants every few months, so who will want to pay.
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