Right. My neighbour downstairs wants to get the owners of the property opposite to cut the trees on their garden back, as they have grown pretty high (20m+) and they are seriously affecting the amount of light that his home gets. Apparently they were cut back 6 years ago or so. London Plain trees.

The land is, we understand, owned by the CofE.

What’s the deal on having them cut back? Are there limits on heights of trees in residential areas? Are trees legally protected from being cut back? There are possibly nesting birds in them; this affects things, surely?

He seems to think it’s a foregone conclusion. I think it’s possible it might be a tad trickier than he imagines. It will cost the landowners money; could they charge him at all? The flat is owned by a local housing association who quite frankly are pretty inefficient and generally a bit crap. As he’s not even the leaseholder, is there actually anything he can do, or is it out of his hands?

He’s easily wound up over things, this bloke, and I’m concerned that he may well not get things his way, and end up stressing himself out too much over it all (he’s got high blood-pressure and has already had a stroke). He certainly doesn’t have the finances to take anyone to court over it, and I’m pretty sure the ‘strapped for cash’ local HA won’t have the resources to do so either.

Is there a simple solution to all this? Can any STW lawyers shed some light (ahem) on the matter?

Boils down to; does he have the right to have a certain amount of light enter his home? Are the landowners legally responsible to ensure this is so?

TIA.

He could start off by asking the vicar to trim them a bit couldn’t he?

No right to light in itself AFAIK.

There may be planning stuf etc to help, google Leylandi (sp) there was litigation among neighbours re. growing stupid big trees in the 80s.

Communication & mutual agreement is best but for proper advice gardenlaw.co.uk is the place to go. AIUI there’s no ‘right to light’ in UK law when it comes to growing trees. If they were new trees and/or you could prove a certain level of light for a long period (15-20 yrs IIRC) then there may be a case, but in many cases where the trees were there before the complainant the situation is that the trees would have been reasonably expected to grow to maturity and therefore the complainant should have been aware of this when they occupied the property.

(Nesting birds protection only applies during the nesting season, so no problem from that in autumn/winter)

Re Al’s point, high hedges legislation (which got absorbed into something else) only applies to evergreens so that’s not going to be relevant here.

Your local council will have a few tree specialists – they run the Tree Preservation Order work etc. They will probably be best placed to advise and give local knowledge.

Speak to the vicar – perhaps he could pray for divine intervention to trim the trees.

If your neighbour trims them without permission he will go straight to hell.

Nice beavers Yunki…

Ta for the advice. I was suspecting something along the lines of ‘no right to light’, and me neighbour’s banging on about his Human Rights etc.. 🙄

I’ve tried to explain to him that no-one will really look at this as any sort of priority (the local HA spend a fortune on legal cases to obtain unpaid rents etc), but he’s adamant he ‘will’ have the trees cut back. As he managed to have done some years ago he claims. TBH, it’s only in the lighter months the trees actually block any light, as at other times, the sun dips below surrounding buildings before the trees affect it, and actually the leafless trees allow quite a bit more light through. Ironically it’s a problem that worsens as spring arrives.

He’s away on holiday atm. I shall have a word with the lady priest about the possibility of her having a trim, see where we go from there.

It’s one of those situations where it would be ‘nice’ if the landowners were to cut the trees back to allow him more light, but if ‘nice’ costs money, then I reckon he’ll be staying in the dark.

we’ll see. And all this started cos my tomatoes are doing a lot better than his, as they are getting more sunlight. He’s well peeved that someone else could be doing better than him (former gardener), and started kicking off about the trees blocking his light.

Ok then I’ll try to find out if there is a possible happy solution, so when he comes back maybe there’ll be something for him to look forward to next summer.

We had a tree with a TPO (Tree Preservation Order) on it. Basically we were allowed to reduce the crown by one third using authorised tree surgeons.

So you can cut the trees back even with TPOs

We had to pay as it was on our land so you will have to persuade the land owner to pay I should imaging.

Don’t suggest copper nails hammered in around the trunk because that would be naughty.

If your neighbour is that bothered, couldn’t he offer to make a donation to the church large enough to get the work done on the understanding that’s what the money would be used for.

Do churches count as charities and if so, could someone benefit from gift aid on the donation?

I’d imagine that funds are scarce at the moment for this sort of thing and will have to be prioritised based on risk (houses falling down, leaking roofs, subsidence, etc.) – so unless the trees pose a risk of falling and damaging people or property, or if buildings insurers say they won’t insure the properties unless the trees are cut back, then it’s likely to be at the bottom of the priority pile

Thing is, I can’t imagine, due to where the sun comes round, that lopping even 5m or so off the tops would make much difference. He’s just miffed cos his plants aren’t in an ideal location, and therefore aren’t doing so well.

He just needs to accept that things are as they are, and he can’t do nuffink about it. Which isn’t easy for him really, but there you go…

Legally you have no ‘right to light’ and there is no legal maximum height for a tree or hedge, with one exception.

Leylandii’s have a separate rule and a maximum height can be enforced by your local council. There is no standard height, rather it is done on a case by case basis.

You do though have the right to cut down any part of a tree that is overhanging your property. Just make sure you give the cutting’s back to the owner of the tree.

Hope that helps Elfin.

I shall have a word with the lady priest about the possibility of her having a trim, see where we go from there

A quick slap i’d imagine. 😉

Onzadog; he isn’t ‘of the faith’, and anyway hasn’t got the sort of money required.

Brakes; I’ve tried telling him all this, but he’s a stubborn old bastid who thinks people will do what he tells them to. He needs to understand the World don’t work like that…

What’s making it worse is that my tomatoes are doing so well, they’re now actually creating a partial shadow across his balcony. 😳

Trees have rights too maaaaan.

So Elfin, how are your tomatoes doing, just out of interest like, seeing as you haven’t mentioned it.

From the sounds of it, you’re probably better off just letting him stew in his own juices then.

They’re doing rather well actually Winegums; thanks for asking! Praps I shooduv mentioned them earlier.

Healthy strong plants, starting to flower, expecting the first fruits in just a few weeks now, in time for Summer. 🙂

Big Boy, Alicante and the ubiquitous Gardeners’ Delight. Mm, tasty tomatoey goodness…

Onza; I’ll do my bit to try and help find a solution, but ultimately I think he just needs to accept he can’t change the World really.

Give him some of your red, juicy tomatoes and tell him to chill.

From gardenlaw (as mentioned several times above):

If you find your garden plunged into darkness by the neighbour’s new wall, or your garden becomes shaded by the trees next door, there may be little you can do as not everyone has a right to light.

If you have enjoyed a particular level of light for 20 uninterrupted years or more, you are entitled to keep a reasonable level of light for normal purposes, but you can’t insist on getting the same amount of light as you have had in the past. The legal test is not ‘how much light have I lost’ but ‘how much light do I still have’

You can acquire a right to light to a particular window in your house, or a structure in your garden, like a greenhouse, but never to the garden itself, so if your garden has been cast into shade you can’t complain.

You can complain only if an artificial structure, like another house or a wall, interferes with it, no complaint can be made when it is a natural obstacle like a tree that is in the way. If you have any questions or problems relating to loss of light contact your Local Council.

Perhaps then building a greenhouse is a solution (they occasionally crop up on freecycle fwiw)? If all else fails, (possibly tasty) tomato wine probably couldn’t make things worse…