Trees and neighbour's boundary

I'm after your opinions on this situation on behalf of a client. I appreciate that no-one here is a lawyer, but some advice from those who may have encountered a similar situation before would be great...We planted some silver birch trees in a garden scheme, and one of these trees is approx 1.8m from the corner of a neighbour's bungalow. The tree is a sapling, approx 2m high (10 litre pot), and is planted approx 1m below the ground line of the bungalow due to the sloping nature of the site.The trees have been topped out, and are expected to reach a height of 10-12m over 10-15 years.The neighbour has objected to the trees and asked for them to be removed, citing potential future damage to his foundations. We, and our client, think the trees pose no future threat to his foundations, and our client has so far refused to comply.My question is, does the neighbour have any legal cause for complaint? And if my client moves/removes the trees as a goodwill gesture, is he within his rights to claim back from the neighbour the cost of doing so?

This may be old advice, but I live at my parents and we have a 20m tall Birch tree in our back garden, slightly older than myself (24).
This tree is 5M from the wall of our extension (2 stories) and 1m from the edge of a raised patio area. The tree has been proffessionaly crown thinned roughly every 4 years by a local aborist. (Message me if you would like a picture)
THe advice when the extension was built was that it is pretty unlikely that any tree will damage good foundations, unless the soil type is heavy clay, and the area is regullalrly water logged, causing fluctuations in soil volume. We were also told that removal of a mature tree does more damage as it changes the soil hydrology, again changing soil volumes, and taking the area out of equilibrium for a time as roots settle and the soil "heaves up" as its water content increases.
For young trees as we have just planted a 2.5m Rowan sapling 1.5m from a garage, the advice was much the same, no effect in our lifetime, and certainly not on our deep well drained soils. (again message if you want a picture),

PS look at this website : http://www.gardenlaw.co.uk/trees.html (Read the whole article)

Half way down is the opinion of an arborist - Birch / Rowan 4 - 5 Meters safe distance. And these distances are cautious and appear to be based on the assumption of 14m / full grown height.

Replies

Matt July 18, 2010 at 10:53pm

About half way down the page is the advice as given by the CAB, I have to say I would lean towards their advice being sound.

http://www.adviceguide.org.uk/index/your_family/home_and_neighbourh...
David Channon July 18, 2010 at 11:02pm

Any dispute with a neighbour becomes material information which must not be witheld when selling a house.
In effect, it will knock about fifteen thousand off of the value of both properties since nobody wants to move in next to a neighbour from hell.
Take the tree out, plant a shrub and kiss and make up!
David Cox July 19, 2010 at 12:25am

This may be old advice, but I live at my parents and we have a 20m tall Birch tree in our back garden, slightly older than myself (24).
This tree is 5M from the wall of our extension (2 stories) and 1m from the edge of a raised patio area. The tree has been proffessionaly crown thinned roughly every 4 years by a local aborist. (Message me if you would like a picture)
THe advice when the extension was built was that it is pretty unlikely that any tree will damage good foundations, unless the soil type is heavy clay, and the area is regullalrly water logged, causing fluctuations in soil volume. We were also told that removal of a mature tree does more damage as it changes the soil hydrology, again changing soil volumes, and taking the area out of equilibrium for a time as roots settle and the soil "heaves up" as its water content increases.
For young trees as we have just planted a 2.5m Rowan sapling 1.5m from a garage, the advice was much the same, no effect in our lifetime, and certainly not on our deep well drained soils. (again message if you want a picture),

PS look at this website : http://www.gardenlaw.co.uk/trees.html (Read the whole article)

Half way down is the opinion of an arborist - Birch / Rowan 4 - 5 Meters safe distance. And these distances are cautious and appear to be based on the assumption of 14m / full grown height.
Nick Steele July 19, 2010 at 7:06am

Regardless of whether the neighbour has any legal rights, for the potential hassle alone, I wouldn't plant a tree so close to a boundary / property. It'll just sour relations, and if the neighbour cuts up rough and starts exercising their right to trim overhanging branches / invading roots, you'll end up with a very silly looking butchered tree that nobody will enjoy.

Just move it! The cost of moving a 2 mt sapling is negligible ( 30 mins work ?) so don't even think about recovering costs!
Keith Barker July 19, 2010 at 11:01pm

Thanks to everyone for their comments. I discovered www.gardenlaw.co.uk while researching this issue, and would recommend it as an specialised information source. Between there and here I have discovered a whole load we didn't know about the issue of trees and buildings.

We'll be recommending to our clients that we move the trees during the autumn.

Thanks again.