Probably sycamore, and if it's close to the house I'm not surprised neighbour is complaining. They grow like rockets and the roots spread at similar speed and can do a lot of damage.
'Right to light' is not a myth, but neither is it an automatic right. A property just a few doors down from us had to modify the plans following an objection from their immediate neighbour on the basis of loss of light. The complainant was the long term occupant of the property so that may have had some bearing on things - I don't know the full details. I just saw the upheld objection on the modified planning application.
Right to light is often written into Planning guidance in various forms for the design of houses. For example several Local Authorities here have Supplementary Planning Guidance for extensions that aim to protect neighbouring properties from loss of sunlight. It might be phrased as 'neighbour's amenity' or similar rather than a right to light though.
In this example it might be more of an Environmental Health issue than Planning so it's a different set of rules. Again it's usually more about the impact on 'reasonable enjoyment' or amenity rather than an implicit right. Sadly those things can be very hard to measure.
If you can keep your head, while those around you are losing theirs, you may not have grasped the seriousness of the situation.
@owd potter We owned a house next to a garden full of self-sown Ash saplings, which became large trees. The owner didn't care about their impact on neighbours, and probably thought we were a PITA. Some had trunks touching our boundary fence, some were between 1-4 metres away. Over a period of years, they completely cut out the light to the whole of the rear of our house. As far as we were aware, we had no right of light, or to ask for them to be cut down or reduced in size.
We resolved the matter in the end, but it was very nasty, and required extreme action on our part. I always recommend flexibility, compromise and consideration in neighbourly disputes, and not always resorting to what people have the legal right to or not. Sometimes you just do something to keep a neighbour happy, even though what they are asking for is not backed up legally, and which annoys you.
I've attached some photos, which show what it's like when you are on the other side of this debate, and it's your house/garden which suffer from trees which weren't even planted by a neighbour. Our house and garden received no sunshine at all in the end, even though we were West facing. It was a big factor in us deciding to sell our house and move.
The house on the right side of the photo below was our house. The large tree on the left hung over 60% of our small garden, and was too high for us to cut.
This photo shows how multiple trees ran all the way along our boundary fence. This photo was taken a few years before they became even larger and more dense. They reached the top of our 3 storey house.
I would get them out completely now, to avoid any structural damage, any legal problems, and just to keep as good a neighbourly relationship as possible. You'll also save yourself a tree-cutting bill every few years.
Thanks all for your input and insightful comments. Much appreciated. Very valid points re potential insurance issues. I will take a trip tomorrow to inspect the offending tree myself. It will not be something planted by my tenants, they are not gardeners, and will be a self sown weed tree, salix or sycamore being most likely, and therefore something, I agree, it will be prudent for me to remove irrespective of any third party issues. cheers all.
I have been informed by the tenants, of an invitation to discuss 'the tree'. Seems the PITA neighbour must have complained. Are there any legal issues here such as right to light or whatever, that I need to consider before discussing this with said official?
Wouldn't you want large trees springing up near your properties to be removed asap, so they don't interfere with the buildings and foundations? I would take the invitation as doing you a favour, helping you to take good care of your properties.
We have so many ash saplings all over our area - some just a few metres from the house walls. The council don't give a toss, although some of the trees will be higher than the houses by next year and will inevitably cause problems. Tenants seem to just shrug and regard it as not their problem. It's hard to know how to address the big ongoing problems. Tree officers are swamped by work and don't reply to messages. It's pretty low down their list of priorities and they always get attacked for taking down trees.
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We resolved the matter in the end, but it was very nasty, and required extreme action on our part. I always recommend flexibility, compromise and consideration in neighbourly disputes, and not always resorting to what people have the legal right to or not. Sometimes you just do something to keep a neighbour happy, even though what they are asking for is not backed up legally, and which annoys you.
I've attached some photos, which show what it's like when you are on the other side of this debate, and it's your house/garden which suffer from trees which weren't even planted by a neighbour. Our house and garden received no sunshine at all in the end, even though we were West facing. It was a big factor in us deciding to sell our house and move.
The house on the right side of the photo below was our house. The large tree on the left hung over 60% of our small garden, and was too high for us to cut.
This photo shows how multiple trees ran all the way along our boundary fence. This photo was taken a few years before they became even larger and more dense. They reached the top of our 3 storey house.
I would get them out completely now, to avoid any structural damage, any legal problems, and just to keep as good a neighbourly relationship as possible. You'll also save yourself a tree-cutting bill every few years.
Very valid points re potential insurance issues.
I will take a trip tomorrow to inspect the offending tree myself. It will not be something planted by my tenants, they are not gardeners, and will be a self sown weed tree, salix or sycamore being most likely, and therefore something, I agree, it will be prudent for me to remove irrespective of any third party issues.
cheers all.