Sycamore Planted Close to House - Help Please!!

[yorkshirepud]

I'd appreciate any help that I can get, my neighbour planted a Sycamore (Acer Pseudoplatanus) 1' from our birck wall and 4' from the backwall of our house, at present its approx 8' tall. There is also sewerage pipes located near to where the tree is planted. I'm wondering what impact it will have on the foundations and the brick wall in say 10 years time (this is when all the kids hopefully will have left home)..

Any help would be appresiated.

[treecreeper]

Hi Yorkshirepud. I used to work in the insurance industry which has done much of the research into problems caused by trees. My knowledge is out of date but I am sure your neighbour's sycamore is way too close even if your property is on a relatively safe soil type. A quick search on google shows recommended minimum planting distances for plane and sycamore in the range 12 to 17 metres, otherwise 1x to 1.5x the height of the tree. That's a lot more than 4 feet

A couple of links:

A Guide to Tree Planting Distances

Subsidence - Home Insurance

[bigdave60dog]

I would definately be concerned. First stop, your neighbour, explain your concerns and see where that goes. If you get no joy contact your local Citizens Advice Centre. They usually know the best people to talk to in your area.
Dave

[Besnard Lake]

Ayup pud,

Firstly, if your neighbour has planted a tree 1 foot from one wall and 4 foot from another then he is obviously unaware of trees and their needs. I doubt it's malicious. Any damage caused to your property in the future by this tree is the resonsibility of the tree owner and all costs for repair will be met by them.

Insurers put arbitrary distances on tree planting wich mean absolutley nothing. Ask them why you can only plant a sycamore 12-17 metres from your property and they won't have an answer.

If the tree is only 8 ft tall now then it can be transplanted to a more suitable place in the dormant season (usually Oct-March) but that would be at the tree owners discretion. He is well within his rights to plant trees anywhere on his land.

Cheers

Bes

[robint]

All the above are sound replies

dont undersestimate the damage that can be caused to your foundations

you dont want to be there in 10 years time

talk to your neighbour ask for his cooperation, maybe help him to move the tree

they can grow very tall quickly and spread easily with their helicopter seeds flying everywhere in autumn

otherwise move house now

you need to have on record that you asked your neighbour and pointed out his liabilites, a solicitors letter if he is unresponsive

[Dorts]

Is this tree anywhere near your neighbours house?
If it is, you might like to point out the damage it will do to his property in ther not too distant future, as well as yours!

[Besnard Lake]

Originally Posted by robint

you need to have on record that you asked your neighbour and pointed out his liabilites, a solicitors letter if he is unresponsive

As your neighbour has not committed a crime or done anything he is not within his rights to do, then I'm afraid a solicitors letter would be a waste of time and money.

Bes

[Jim Ford]

If the neighbour won't move or remove the tree, it's best for you to move house as soon as possible. If it's left to get big and you then decide to move you may get an adverse surveyor's report on your house and your prospective purchaser have difficulty in getting a mortgage.

Jim

[robint]

Of course one obvious way to limit damage to your foundations is to prune back any roots that come into your property from that tree - you would have to dig a deep trench at least 4ft and thats not clever for you property either. You do have this right but you must return any such material over the fence (same applies to branches). Given the nature of a sycamore its going to be a funny looking tree.


course it depends on the nature of the soil. If your on a chalk bed as in my area Kent, then roots cant go down far without hitting solid chalk, so the fan out rapidly. It also makes them vulnerable to high winds because they cant form a tap root - I remember the devasting storm in 1998 which flattened a great swathe of tall trees right across Kent showing graphically how litle purchase these 100 +year old trees had on the ground. they were bowled over like skittles

[robint]

Originally Posted by Besnard Lake

As your neighbour has not committed a crime or done anything he is not within his rights to do, then I'm afraid a solicitors letter would be a waste of time and money.

Bes

I dont support your view Bernard

Firstly you must try to resolve the issue verbally and give the neighbour opportunity to rememdy the matter.

You can record the substane of the conversation in writing if you believe the neighbour will be uncooperative. Send the letter by recorded delivery to your neighbour and copy it to your solicitor.

You should try this on two or three attempts finally pointing out that your property is damaged and getting a surveyors report (keep meticulous records of your costs, times and dates etc)

Finally when the neighbour has failed to remedy your damage to your satisfaction you can carry out your own repairs and make a claim for damages against him.

As with anyting legal, physical records, photos (date stamped), journal of events etc