Neighbour's hedge shading our garden

[Yog Sothoth 10]

Our neighbours like to 'keep themselves to themselves' and a few years back, planted a laurel hedge at the other side of the dividing fence. It now towers over 15 feet high, and shades half of our garden decking, even in summer. I did cut it back a couple of years back, down to about head height, but the female of the pair went mental, screaming that as the hedge was on their side of the fence, it was in their garden, and I have no ****** right to touch it!

 

She may have a technical point, but it's getting silly now, it being so high that it's robbing us of sunlight. I'm considering cutting it again. Am I in the wrong if I do so? I might ask them first but I expect they'll say no and warn me of dire consequences if I touch it!

 

They don't seem to care about our right to enjoy the sunshine, only about their right to privacy, which I don't intend to compromise anyway, as I don't want to see their mean faces.

[Granma 10]

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/property/propertyadvice/4786351/Property-advice-Neighbours-trees-and-hedges.html

 

Granma.

[chris1983 10]

Our neighbours like to 'keep themselves to themselves' and a few years back, planted a laurel hedge at the other side of the dividing fence. It now towers over 15 feet high, and shades half of our garden decking, even in summer. I did cut it back a couple of years back, down to about head height, but the female of the pair went mental, screaming that as the hedge was on their side of the fence, it was in their garden, and I have no ****** right to touch it!

 

She may have a technical point, but it's getting silly now, it being so high that it's robbing us of sunlight. I'm considering cutting it again. Am I in the wrong if I do so? I might ask them first but I expect they'll say no and warn me of dire consequences if I touch it!

 

They don't seem to care about our right to enjoy the sunshine, only about their right to privacy, which I don't intend to compromise anyway, as I don't want to see their mean faces.

 

 

i have the same problem with the house the bottom of my garden borders, the have a large weeping willow which shaded my greenhouse in summer so one night after a few cheeky beers i took my saw to the biggest branch and chopped it off. but they never said anything!

 

But a few doors down they have 2 connifers which must be about 60 feet high so in summer between 5 - 6pm they shade my decking which annoys the hell out of me but i cant cut them down!

[mrsb73 11]

if you call environmental services at the council 2037410 they can send you a high hedge pack that will contain advice about this issue.

[BillyWhiz 10]

Hi Yog.

 

Ring the council and ask to speak to someone about high hedges, they should be able to tell you your position in law and what you are able to do about a very high hedge. BillyWhiz

 

Oops..MrsB73 beat me to it..good on yer!

Edited March 28, 2011 by BillyWhiz
Was pipped to the post by MrsB73..

[JanPud 10]

hmmm according to the website http://www.boundary-problems.co.uk if its 2 metres that's what they're allowed (been curious about this myself) and if you trim their hedge you may be liable for criminal damage (i know! see the website)

 

I'd definitely ask them to give it a trim or if they'd mind you doing so as its blocking the sunlight in you're garden.

[Yog Sothoth 10]

I wouldn't mind it if they kept it to head-height, as it gives us privacy too, so I don't want to kill it really. Just them.

[Yog Sothoth 10]

hmmm according to the website http://www.boundary-problems.co.uk if its 2 metres that's what they're allowed (been curious about this myself) and if you trim their hedge you may be liable for criminal damage (i know! see the website)

 

Hmmm...this is from the same website:

 

"Trimming hedges

Theoretically, you shouldn't trim your neighbour's hedge for fear of doing criminal damage to his property. However, your neighbour's hedge has no entitlement to occupy the air space above your land. This would appear to give you the right to alleviate the nuisance caused by the encroachment of your neighbour's hedge onto your land, allowing you to trim back its branches to the point at which they each cross the boundary.

 

Should you then return the trimmings to your neighbour, as they are his property? General practice is that you trim your side of the hedge and dispose of the trimmings yourself.

 

And what about the height of the hedge? Well, as it is your neighbour's hedge then he is entitled to decide to what height it grows. You may therefore trim only your side of his hedge and you may not reduce the height of the hedge.

 

 

 

High hedges

High hedges have received a lot of attention in recent years. They may be dealt with under the Anti-social Behaviour Act 2003.

 

What constitutes a high hedge? Well, it is not a hedge that blocks the view from your house: sad to say but there is no right to a view under English law. If you want to preserve the view from your house then you must buy and own all of the land that you can see from your house in order to conserve your view.

 

A high hedge is a continuous barrier to light or access that rises to more than two metres above the ground and comprises a line of two or more evergreen or semi-evergreen trees or shrubs. A complaint about a high hedge on neighbouring land must be made to the local authority (usually the district council) by the owner of a domestic property who can show "that his reasonable enjoyment of that property is being adversely affected by the height of a high hedge situated on land owned or occupied by another person".

 

The local authority may issue a notice to require the high hedge to be reduced to a suitable height, but they cannot order a hedge to be reduced to below 2 metres in height, nor can they order the removal of a hedge.

Edited March 29, 2011 by esme
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[Yog Sothoth 10]

Seemingly you have to pay for the council to take any action, and that's just for asking!

[Mrs Overall 10]

Similar kind of problem here, we were turned down for solar panels due to a conifer at the top of our road shading part of our roof..(it does seem a long way away, but we have to take the companies word for it)..

 

The company suggested we ask the owner of the house if we paid for it could we cut it down, i didnt do it as i dont know the people renting it.

 

Would you think it cheeky of us if we asked the owner of the house to do this??

[Yog Sothoth 10]

Nowt wrong in asking. I wouldn't mind if someone asked me, even if I said no.

[Mrs Overall 10]

Nowt wrong in asking. I wouldn't mind if someone asked me, even if I said no.

 

Thanks...