They creep over fences, block out the sun and shed leaves all over your grass or terrace – overhanging branches from a neighbour’s tree can turn a peaceful garden into a constant nuisance. But while the frustration is clear, the law around what you can (and can’t) do about it is not always so obvious.
Luckily, a barrister-led law firm, Shensmith, has shed light on what laws actually stand when it comes to a neighbour’s tree that encroaches onto your land. “It is a right of a landowner to cut back any roots or branches of a neighbour’s tree that encroach onto their land, and this can be done without the tree owner’s permission,” said John Price, a barrister. There are, however, numerous points that must be taken into consideration before committing to the chop.
“Firstly, if the pruning that you undertake destabilises or kills the tree, you may be liable for damaging it,” Mr Price said. “It would therefore be highly advisable to consult a suitably qualified arboriculturist before performing work of this kind.”
Crucially, the root or branch material that you cut is still, in the eyes of the law, the property of the tree owner: “While it may ostensibly sound silly or unrealistic, you must nevertheless offer to return any cuttings to the owner to avoid allegations of theft,” the barrister warned.
“Disputes of this kind can become gratuitously acrimonious and it would be most unfortunate to find yourself prone to such allegations. If they do not want the material back (which, in all likelihood, they will not), you will be responsible for disposing of it; you cannot simply discard the material over the neighbour’s boundary.
“This is why fostering cooperative, friendly communications with your neighbour, where at all possible, is so useful, because it may be that, on discovering that their trees overhang your property, your neighbour will be perfectly willing to cut the overhanging branches down and dispose of them himself, thereby obviating the need to commence litigation and endure the irreversible cooling of neighbourly relations that usually results.”
Thirdly, you must ensure that the tree you are cutting is not subject to a tree preservation order (PTO). These rules make it a criminal offence to fell, lop, uproot, damage or destroy a tree without the consent of the local authority.
“If there is, consent from the council will be required before such work is commenced. You must also make sure that there are no nesting birds in the plant you are planning to work upon,” Mr Price cautioned.
Finally, if the tree in question is a fruit-bearing tree, like the root or branch material, the fruit and any “windfall” fruit – fruit that may have fallen off the overhanging branches onto your land – also belongs to the owner, so you cannot take it and keep it without their permission.
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