Next door neighbour pushing my fence panel over

The RHS website provides clear guidance on overhanging trees.

The tree belongs to the person on whose property it grows and overhangs may be cut off by neighbours although the branches and leaves cut off must be offered to the owners before being disposed of. Fruit belongs to the tree owner and may not be taken.

In trimming an overhanging tree, the tree itself and its roots are not to be damaged.

It seems clear that the OP is in the right here and not the grumpy neighbours. The neighbours can cut the overhang on their side but she doesn't have to.

However, I am of the opinion that the 80 year old neighbours might be suffering from Alzheimer's or be affected by the querulousness and fears which beset older and frailer folks.

Chucky it's their responsibility to have branches on their side cut. They are allowed to chuck said branches back over fence. With their animosity I wouldn't have entertainted cutting g their side down

the tree is your responsibility, if the neighbours cut down branches encroaching on to their property by law they have to give them back to you. i.e. throw them over your fence. maybe the fence panels propped up look an eyesore? from their side. go round visit them and discuss with them ... try not to be unhappy x

I have similar with my neighbours. Started out well but changed over dispute re a hedge. Nasty pasties as it turned out. The other side isn't much better. Man who lives there is violent ( burst into another neighbours house and threatened their 17 year old daughter). He has been vile to me when I told him to stop blocking my drive.Am sandwiched between nastiness. Housing association property but now partly owned by me. ( Shared ownership)

In the case of the violent neighbour, once he had seen that I am not entirely alone, his attitude changed. He caught sight of my 6' 5" son in law recently. Different story.

Do these people bully you because you seem vulnerable ? Involve the police if necessary. Don't let the b*******s grind you down.

I agree totally . If it's your tree , you are responsible. However , the tree surgeon should have clearly explained to you his legal position . I'm sure that your neighbour wouldn't have minded them coming onto their property to tackle the tree . I can understand your neighbours frustration , cats, fence , tree. Good relations with neighbours are really important . You appear to feel wronged . Be the bigger person . Talk to your neighbour , pay , sort tree and fences. Being thoughtful is important . Hope you resolve it .

Sounds like the housing association might be the best people to mediate. It's very difficult when you're on your own and the neighbour is a couple - you're outnumbered before you start! (they can be very cruel sometimes when they could be so helpful? Anyway, such a shame they've decided to make life difficult for you. I hope you can resolve it soon if you got along so well in the past? Such a shame when neighbours make your life miserable. Hugs.

Blondenana I think you've been very accommodating to them. You've followed their wishes as asked, if they're not happy with what you've done speak to your housing officer. Every HA has one. They may be developing dementia and a good HO will spot that, you've done all you can and should do.Don't be bullied into further action just contact the HO. Good Luck

Its not worth all the hassle please try to resolve and keep the peace as your neighbours are getting old and not in excellent health.please try to do the right thing by them.

Why not go round and ask them over for tea and a friendly chat? Say to them that you're aware that relations between you have become strained lately and how about you both discuss it and find ways to solve the problems?

If the tree is on your property it's up to you to keep it trimmed and not intrusive on your neighbours . If it is blocking out there light , it is up to you to do something . As for the fence panels , if there garden is just so . It probably looks an eye sore from there side . If the housing association gets involved you would probably be made to cut the tree right down and remove the fence panels if they are in bad condition .

In the second picture, there looks to be a fence panel at the bottom rigbt-hand side of your garden which appears to be leaning outwards towards next door.
Is this/are they the panel(s) of who h you speak?
I'd ask the council worker who cut down your tree if he can adjust the panels so they are upright...if it doesn't cost too much.
I do think that they are being picky but gardens, driveways, animals, children and noise are the most common complaints between neighbours. You are not alone. I hope it's resolved amicably.

Surely if you live in a rented housing association property, it is not your responsibility to pay to have a tree cut or to attend to a broken fence as neither belong to you.

The council tree cutter sounds a bit jobsworth. A proper tree surgeon would have cared about the health and appearance of the tree and reduced it evenly

crazyH A housing Association is an agency that rents homes. They are the land lords, some are fantastic like Wessex housing ( so I am told ) some not so good.

Sounds like a mental health issue.

For whatever reason next door are not happy and as you have to continue living next door to them can you not ask someone from the Housing Association to come round and mediate? That way you find out what their beef is, have the opportunity to put your point of view and a mediator to well mediate and hopefully find a reasonable compromise. I don't see that you have to do anything else.

Gabrielle you are right,that fence panel is leaning towards their side,i have done that since the complaint that it is touching their fence,it was upright before, there is nothing but weeds behind that fence panel, he never even goes up to that end,his garden that is a nice part ends lower down,
Re,the housing association cutting the tree they wont, as said in an earlier post, i asked them and unless the roots are causing a problem they wont do it,
I have told the neighbours in the past that anything hanging over their side they are welcome to cut off, but they dont want to,
Our Housng association are brilliant,i cant fault them in any way, but like most they only have so much money to spend, and gave me a contractors no,he wanted £400, well beyond my
I think those thinking it is a mental health problem are possibly right, the looks i got and venomous attitude shocked me
Fences seem to cause a lot of problems my son rents a house out and their neighbour complained about their cat going into his garden, so they put a fence up a higher one than before, now he is complaining it is too high , cant win sometimes, and for the record i am 76, so i do understand up to a point,

My interpretation of the tree issue would be that the owner of the tree is responsible for pruning / cutting back etc. However, if the owner does not maintain the tree/bush, then the neighbour whose property is impinged by the overhanging branches/foliage, is allowed to prune it back, but it's my understanding that they have to give the pruned parts to the owner.

In this case, as the owner was having the tree pruned, as a neighbour, I would have expected the entire tree to be dealt with, not only the parts that are in the owner's garden.

Actually, in this case, as it's a housing association property, I'd almost argue that the owner of the tree is the HA and not the tenant. Unless of course, the tenant planted the tree.

I'm sure there must be a way of attaching the fence panels to the fence posts that are there - even cable ties would offer some degree of permanence so that they can't be just pushed over - doing that does seem incredibly petty of them.

Bustertank panels are not in bad condition, also have a panel by my window by the way, between windows,he complained about that too, said dont fasten it to his fencepost, that is properly fixed thoughand if you read the full thread you will see that i have done all i can to give them more light, not for my benefit, some old people just get cranky, and nothing but what they want will do hope to god i never get like that,

I have one that live next door to me short of taking him to court I just don't speak any more that get peace

tomtom i agree, best not to even talk rather than argue
My fence has been up for over 10 years, possibly more,cant see what the problem is all of a sudden, just awkwardness i think, not worth losing sleep over imo
Hardly ever see neighbours either side, my young neighbour the other side has had 2 babies, didnt even know she was pregnant,
These houses are very closed in back gardens have a lockable door at the front to get to the back, and trees and high hedges all around, you could almost sunbathe naked and no one could see you

I'm fed up with my neighbours trees, so I sympathise with your neighbours. Why don't you just cut the whole thing down? What are you keeping it for? It's YOUR tree, you need to sort this out.
IF it is part of a hedge it shouldn't be more than eight feet tall.

I get on well with the neighbours on my street. Next door have a Leylandii hedge which is about 9ft tall, and I would prefer it to be 6ft, but it's not worth falling out about it. He trims it on his, and my side twice a year.
My widowed neighbour, on the other side, has a conifer at the bottom of her garden. The people who live to her rear demanded that she had it lopped, and she paid £300 to have it done. I was cross with her, when she told me. The rear neighbours have a huge copper beech tree which is beautiful, but far too big for its situation. It overhangs the gardens of their next-door neighbour, my widowed neighbour, and also mine. They have a cheek to complain about another person's tree which was tall and narrow, and causing no problem.
There are so many disputes about boundaries, hedges and trees, and people get very territorial about their property. Sometimes it seems impossible to please people.

As an occupier of a Housing Association property I certainly advise you go to your Housing Association. Check your terms of occupation because the tree may be the H.A's. responsibility.

I do tend to agree that the tree in your garden is your responsibility & we have had problems with neighbours over the back who never ever trim our side of their horrendous leylandi type hedge, so kind of know how they feel about their side being neglected. I like to be private so wouldn’t wish it to not be there -but they have their own side professionally cut but never ever ask for access to our garden for our side to be cut. We pay our fitter younger next door neighbour a small amount of money to cut it back ( it also affects his garden too so he kills two birds with one stone) and he throws it all over the hedge into their garden. It shouldn’t be down to us to pay but we do it to keep our side of the hedge tidy and do not want confrontation with the rather bombastic man who lives in the house that the hedge belongs to. My husband has approached their gardener who is doing the trimming but he turns a blind eye and makes no comment.