Rented properties and dangerous trees/falling branches…….

If………..

A branch falls off a tree, which is in the garden of a rented property and damages a neighbour’s property e.g. thier house, car OR at worst case it hits someone, who is responsible in the eyes of the law?

The landlord as it is ultimately their property

OR

The tennant as the property is in their care (and they’ve failed to tell the landlord about the potential of falling branches from said tree)

???

At a guess the landlord will have insurance the tenant won’t. If I was the neighbour I’d be speaking to the landlord.

I’d say the landlord is the one with the duty of care.

If the branch falls in a storm and there was no obvious previous rot etc then it’s likely to be act of god and your insurance that’ll pay. If it’s neglected and the landlord knew it could fall then it’s his look out.

I am not a lawyer.

as an ex letting agent I’d say check your tenancy agreement. It is common place for agreements to reference gardens and it’s the tenants responsibility to maintain them and knowing most landlords they’d expect that to include trees.

I can see your concern.

But I am guessing you are not an expert in trees, nor did you damage said tree to cause the branch to fall? And there was nothing really, really obvious that you should have noticed?

Landlord will have insurance and trees do not grow that fast that any kind of 6 month inspection should not have noticed anything growing massively dangerous so it’s either up to the landlord (or their agent to spot) or a freak event or something that wasn’t easily spotted.

Anything in your contract to state you must inspect trees on a regular basis?

I also am not a lawyer.

as an ex letting agent I’d say check your tenancy agreement. It is common place for agreements to reference gardens and it’s the tenants responsibility to maintain them and knowing most landlords they’d expect that to include trees.

Is that because they are trying to get out of the responsibility themselves and are trying to pull a fast one over what is realistic? I have always been happy to do what is needed to keep a garden in good order and tidy if there was no arranged maintenance agreed but surely trees require a specialist to trim them (if we are talking about major chunks of tree) and that is beyond tidying up the garden and keeping it nice? I would never expect, or want my tenants to touch the trees.

I’m with andyl on this one, if the landlord had provided equipment to keep the tree(s) in order then they may be able to say it was expected but it would be very easy for a tennant to say the did not feel qualified/trained/comfortable using it.

If it as a hazard would the landlord not have a duty of care to have it fixed.

Sould have clarified this….

I am ‘the neighbour’! I’ve warned/raised the issue with the tenants about a 2 trees in their gardens, and they just looked at me and shrugged (no surprise – both front and rear gardens resemble a wildnerness). I don’t have the landlord’s details either and they mumbled that they didn’t either…

So basically if/when something happens, I want to know who I go after!

Greatful for all advice and I know it may not be ‘gospel’!!

Ask where/who they pay there rent to. If it is through an agency call them up and raise your concern with them or ask for contact details of the landlord. If the landlord is made aware of the problem they should fix it. If you are particularly worried about it send an email so you can keep a record of when you raised your concerns.

You need to tell this to the landlord or their agent.

It probably will still come under the landlords insurance but if I was the landlord I would be p*$$ed and want to do a full inspection of what else they have neglected.

That will be the easier route for you than chasing the tenants – let them do that.

Is nothing has fallen yet then you can also contact your local council. They can enforce measures to be taken and may even be able to do it themselves and seek the money from the owner. They may also have a record of who the landlord is due to safety certificates etc.

One thing you shouldn’t do, unless told you can by the council, is arrange for the work yourself.

From the Dudley council website:

The Council will, where appropriate, use its available powers to make safe imminently dangerous trees that are situated on land not owned by the Council.

Justification: The Council is empowered, under the Local Government (Miscellaneous Provisions) Act 1976 and the Highways Act 1980, to seek to make safe dangerous trees in the interests of public safety.

Implementation: The Council will serve notice on owners of dangerous trees to make them safe by pruning works or felling as appropriate, using the powers given in the Local Government (Miscellaneous Provisions) Act 1976 and Highways Act 1980. Should a tree owner fail to undertake the work within the specified time, the Council will seek to carry out tree work and charge the owner of the tree accordingly.

The Oxford council website was a lot less helpful 🙄

Bit more from Ashford council:

The Local Government (Miscellaneous Provisions) Act 1976, Sections 23 & 24, gives Local Authorities discretionary powers in respect of dangerous trees in private ownership. The relevant policy guidance states that the use of these powers should be as a last resort only. The important factors involved are that the tree(s) should be imminently dangerous, as confirmed by a competent arboriculturist, requiring urgent action to be taken. The circumstances relate to having works carried out by or on behalf of the Local Authority and then re-charging the cost to the landowner subsequently. Where it is not possible to recoup the costs immediately, a land charge may be placed on the property so that in the event of a future sale, the Local Authority will recover any moneys outstanding.

For these reasons and because generally it is more expensive for a Local Authority to undertake tree works than for the landowner to organise this independently, the Act is rarely used, except where issues of safety are paramount. To report dangerous trees on private land, our Landscape Officer should be contacted via the Customer Contact Centre on 01233 331111.

Is that because they are trying to get out of the responsibility themselves and are trying to pull a fast one over what is realistic? I have always been happy to do what is needed to keep a garden in good order and tidy if there was no arranged maintenance agreed but surely trees require a specialist to trim them (if we are talking about major chunks of tree) and that is beyond tidying up the garden and keeping it nice? I would never expect, or want my tenants to touch the trees.

you may be a good landlord who is willing to do that but with the boom in B2L LL’s in recent years paying way over the odds there’s a band of penny pinchers who would basically expect to pay out for nothing more than an annual gas safety check and wriggle out of anything more, which is of course in my eyes false economy.