Trees and your Neighbours

Dangerous trees The safety of trees is nearly always the responsibility of the owner of the land on which they grow; but there are some exceptions, such as when a rental agreement requires the tenants of a property to manage the trees. The tree owner or manager has a ‘common [...]

In most situations the simple answer to this is no. You have a common law right to prune back parts of a tree or hedge growing over the boundary into your property (subject to any legal restrictions being overcome first such as Tree Preservation Orders or conservation areas) but you cannot compel the [...]

Under ‘common law’, you may be able to prune branches and roots which grow over your boundary. However, you also have a legal duty to take ‘reasonable care’ whilst undertaking any works and you may be liable if you damage the tree or cause it to become unstable. It is [...]

You may be able to depending on the importance of the tree, the nature of the building proposed and distance between the proposed building and the tree in question.

Under common law rights a neighbour can cut back any foliage that overhangs the boundary to the boundary line without reference to the owner of the tree/shrub

If the building work proposed requires planning consent, all trees which could potentially be affected by the development (including those off-site) should be assessed by an arboricultural consultant in accordance with British Standard BS5837:2012 Trees in relation to design, demolition and construction – Recommendations, and details of this submitted to the [...]