Neighbours' garden

"my daughter has been very poorly and l really want to move soon to be closer but all 3 of the estate agents have said her garden will put people off"

Though not, buyers with the same mindset at your neighbour, who just don't care about the garden and probably never go in it.

People who do care, might just reduce their offer.

Don't let other people dictate your plans. Just forge ahead anyway.

Feeling very sorry for you, if you're a worrier then it's going to be on your mind all the time which is not good for you. I would put your house on the market anyway and see what happens. Like others have said it might not make a difference to a buyer who really likes the location and the house.
I wish you all the best.

Try the council. There is a government act covering trees over 2 metre. I am having the same problem. There is a site on our council where you can report.

I have exactly the same problem. The neighbour on his other side reported him and he was told to clear his garden. The tree is still there though, it’s bigger than the house.

When talking to an estate agent, I wouldn’t even bring the trees up. They are looking for anything to make you drop your price and give them a quick and easy sale. When viewers come around and ask say they are being dealt with after nesting season, and stress that the trees are a non-invasive species that won’t have anything negative impact on the property.

Good luck

I had a good friend whose trees bordered another's property. The main concern by her neighbors were the leaves that were falling into their yard in the winter. About 4 years ago these trees started dying, all of them. It seems that the neighbors poisoned her trees. There was nothing she could do because the roots that were poisoned were on the neighbor's property. And they had every right to remove a nuisance. She had to spend 1200 USD to remove the trees.

Check your home insurance policy. Some insurers ask you to declare any nearby trees over 10 metres high so this is another angle that you could challenge your neighbour with. You shouldn't have to pay higher premiums because of her trees.

Timid or otherwise, I think it’s fine to mention to her what the estate agents have said….then I’d put the house on the market and see what happens. She may genuinely be happy to have the work done later in the year. But if people viewing your house state that’s why they’re not buying it, I’d then speak to her again. Meanwhile cut back (or have cut back) all that hangs into your garden. I know that doesn’t solve it but it again, puts pressure on her. I think at some point, she’ll agree to something. Good luck.

I live adjacent to a "power corridor" (electric lines) with out of control greenery- and I love having such a quiet neighbor! And the density gives me privacy! Buyers bring different "eyes" when they househunt. This may be analogous to a pool- some are excited by one and others say "no way!". Go ahead and sell- just market it for people like me!

Earthmother9

If it overhangs into your garden you chop it off and throw the bits back into their garden. I's quite legal.

No it isn't!

We had a large sycamore tree in the hedgerow next to our house, and it caused subsidence. Our drive sank and we developed cracks in the house walls. Our house insurance paid for the repair and the farmer who owned the hedgerow shared the cost of having the tree taken down. We still get dozens of seedlings but we make sure nothing in the hedgerow gets too tall now.

If it overhangs into your garden you chop it off and throw the bits back into their garden. I's quite legal.

House for sale near me has huge trees in front garden, when it went up for sale estate agent photos were cleverly taken in front of these trees so they weren't in shot. The house was beautiful inside and sold within 2 weeks, I wouldn't worry too much, it's the estate agents job to counteract any negativity from.viewers

Hi we also have neighbours with huge trees who have promised to cut them back and haven’t - even though they are affecting the foundations of our garage ! If you were staying I would go down the legal route as far as possible but if you want to sell don’t do that. Put the house on the market in autumn when all the leaves are off. Say nothing about your neighbour or the trees . Take no notice of the estate agents . If you can afford it ‘price to sell’ as you need to move quickly. Do not apologise for the trees. Make your garden as tidy as possible and get rid of any dead or dying plants. Gravel over the beds or tree bark them and out some pots on them . Make everything else look wonderful. All houses sell eventually and a lot of people care about he house not the garden anyway. I’m sure it has lots of other positives .

I think you will find that killing them is illegal.

If they are on your fence line I think you could kill them off with some deep cuts and weed killer put in the cuts.
Or why not offer to pay for the tree surgeon to remove them ? They are weed trees

My back garden is verry shallow from the door to the fence and my neighbour had a Field Maple right up against the fence, she used to get it topped out every three years but as she got into her 90s she let the garden go to pot. I couldn't bother her about it as she was so elderly and infirm. When she died a couple of years ago a younger woman moved in but she too is unwell. During the Winter she had it chopped down to about three metres together with 2 very large firs. The difference to the light in my garden is unbelievable and the light in my Kitchen and bedroom is brilliant. I feel your pain and hope you manage to come to a happy conclusion soon.

Listening to this is worrying me about another similiar situation my son could be in.next door neighbour has six cars parked all wrecks and I did tell my son this could be a problem when he decides to sell. The guy likes my son and they have a shared drive which my son has his only car on. I feel for aallwaysworrying. not a lot you can do about this situation but play it out cut down what’s on your side and fingers crossed it might get resolved at a later date. I hope it does before you sell.

If anything hangs over your fence /wall you can legally cut it down but most offer it back to your neighbour.

Oh you have my sympathy, our neighbour’s garden is the same. Huge branch of willow came down and has given us a bit of light but very tall hazel tree that drops nuts over our garden making mowing noisy and encourages the squirrels, blocks light. Not touched any of the trees in the 20 years we’ve lived here. Also got sycamores near us, forever pulling the seedlings out of flower beds and pots, trees need looking after don’t just leave to to grow until they are no longer safe or risky on a windy day.

Contact a local councillor and ask if s/he knows of any local schemes to help elderly folk with overgrown gardens?

Whatever you do don't take a chainsaw to it. Suddenly the tree that every gardener regards as an unwanted interloper will become a national treasure.

Elowen33

I think you have to accept that there is nothing you can do about this instead of worrying about it.

It may put some people off from buying but not all. If you do get viewers for your home you can honestly say that she is going to cut the trees down when the nesting season has finished if they bring it up.

This.
Go ahead with an agent straight away and if asked about the trees say what Elowyn suggests.
A lot of people like trees on the boundary for privacy.
Moving is the only answer.

We moved into a house a few years ago with a horrible line of huge leylandii. We got rid of them and then a neighbour two doors up came and thanked us profusely for restoring his lovely sea view!
I have every sympathy for Alwaysworrying. Sycamores are an absolute menace and absolutely forbidden on our allotment site. I love trees but these are so invasive, and not originally native to UK. I think I would try to gently reason with the neighbour, be open about your dilemma regarding your daughter, and even offer to share cost of tree surgery.

The point I was trying to make merlotgran is that it might put some people off but, as NotSpaghetti says, it might not. Nobody can say it definitely will put off 100% of potential buyers.

A buyer might come along who this suits for any number of reasons. They might like the trees and the privacy they afford. It might be a private landlord who plans to rent to tenants/students who won’t be worried about the garden or gardening. It might be a developer who won’t be timid about taking the neighbour on. It doesn’t sound like they would have any legal redress but they might be more forceful about the perceived nuisance.

Depending on the condition and location of OP’s own property, it might be someone who wants a quick turnaround anyway. Yes, that might mean they want a slightly lower purchase price but they might not if it’s a quick in out for the cost of a quick spruce up.

There are all kinds of buyers out there who don’t or won’t see this as the major issue OP does (based on her user name) as they haven’t lived with it or worried about it.

If it’s imperative that OP starts the sale process now she can do what 62Granny suggests, then it’s caveat emptor as regards whether it happens or not. All buyers should be aware of the law about cutting trees and hedges during the nesting season so it’s a legitimate explanation. OP gives the neighbour a chance to get something booked in now for the autumn. Meantime she does the suck it and see that NotSpaghetti suggests to test the market. As long as she is realistic about price, she might be pleasantly surprised.

Thank you for your reply.l'm not sure of her age but a bit older than me (l'm 66) she's very confident, outgoing, never home and seems very independent. Sometimes she talks to me and sometimes she ignores me, according to her mood. I would say she is probably much better off than me-l won't say why, but it is obvious she's not poor. She drives a very nice car, is always away and is very well dressed. I would say we're very different and l believe that's where the problem lies as l struggle to stick up for myself and will always back down. I struggle with all the leaves too as l have rheumatoid arthritis, last year l must have collected 40 bags.