Who does the tree belong to ?

[Muttsnutts]

A question regarding who owns a tree that in in a ditch between our field and a neighbours field and part of that tree overhangs a house who says that it may cause damage to their house, they say it needs to be removed (a sizeable job due to location and size of tree)

The tree is in the ditch....but who's ditch is it ? ......I have found the following extract on the gov web site but cant seem to make sense of it ? ......can anyone decipher ? It reads the following.

Where 2 properties are divided by a hedge or bank and an artificial ditch, the boundary is presumed to run along the edge of the ditch furthest from the hedge or bank. This is based on the principle that an owner, standing on his boundary looking inward, dug his drainage ditch within his boundary, threw up the soil on his home side, and then planted a hedge on the mound. This presumption only applies to man-made ditches and does not apply if it can be shown that the ditch is natural or if it can be established that the boundary feature was made while the lands on both sides were in common ownership.

 

[Kidds]

Exactly as it says, the ditch belongs to whoever owns the land on the side where the hedge is.

 

[Muttsnutts]

Exactly as it says, the ditch belongs to whoever owns the land on the side where the hedge is.

As the field it not equal on both boundary sides and some of the hedge is sporadic and mostly fenced off are there exceptions to the rule where

A. There is No hedge present, only a ditch.

B There is a hedge on each field with the ditch in the middle ?- am I right in saying that in scenario B it would be classed as a natural ditch so the rule does not apply, and if in that case who ones it ?

 

[Treemover]

Go to your solicitor. It’s the only way to be sure.

Trees on boundaries are a legal minefield.

 

[chaffcutter]

When we tried to get a defined boundary off a map drawn in the 1800’s, the line on the map scaled off at four metres wide!
Good luck with that, I fear you might have to decide ownership by recourse to the house deeds, responsibility for the boundaries may be defined there.

 

[Exfarmer]

There may be Tee‘s on the map indicating ownership, but both farms I have sold, I never guaranteed boundaries, so they were effectively unknown.
we had a very strong suspicion that on my Norfolk farm the boundary had moved Quite substantially over time, as the parish boundary ran 10- 15 feet away from the field edge.
I would pull the tree down into your field, find a local with a big saw and a log burner, let him do the work, if you are near me I can recomend someone

 

[robs1]

Why not share the cost between all involved, far cheaper than getting the legal bods involved. Of course if it's a decent tree it might be worth good money

 

[Goweresque]

If its a big tree surely its not 100% in the ditch, otherwise the ditch would be blocked at that point? Does the ditch not go round the tree to one side or another? Am I right in thinking this is a 3 way problem - 2 landowners arguing over whose tree it is, and a householder who just wants whoever it does belong to to deal with it?

If faced with this sort of scenario I'd be tempted to take the long view - if the other side wants it to be my tree I'll accept that as long as they accept that the boundary is on the far side of the ditch/hedge, and put that in writing. That suddenly gives them a harder decision to make - they certainly don't want to pay for the tree surgery now but they won't want to lose what is arguably part of their property in perpetuity either.

 

[ollie989898]

How big is it, can a 13 tonner and tree shear not bring the bulk of it down?

 

[Lincs Lass]

Who got the biggest chainsaw and which way will it drop

 

[Netherfield]

 

[Muttsnutts]

I’m going to assess the situation tomorrow hopefully, some good susgesrions so far, it’s off farm site..... guess it all comes down to cost, there are limbs of about 30ft that overhanging greenhouse and garage with absestos roof so don’t want to be taking any chances, guess it all comes down to cost, an arborist is ££ and I should image getting a 13tonner in on a low loader ain’t cheap either ....

 

[Lincs Lass]

Branches that size might need a crane to lift out in one cut ,,its going to be a climbers job without a doubt ,,a simple tree job round here is £450 and thats just to crown one ,full climb ,ropes and lowering is a painfully slow job and can take two days ,,I bet you will be into the £2000 + mark and more if a crane is needed

 

[Exfarmer]

Branches that size might need a crane to lift out in one cut ,,its going to be a climbers job without a doubt ,,a simple tree job round here is £450 and thats just to crown one ,full climb ,ropes and lowering is a painfully slow job and can take two days ,,I bet you will be into the £2000 + mark and more if a crane is needed

I have yet to meet the tree which costs more than it is worth to cut down, just need the tools

 

[Lincs Lass]

Get one of these in

 

[Lincs Lass]

I have yet to meet the tree which costs more than it is worth to cut down, just need the tools

Its not the value of the tree ,,its the risks ,power lines ,other houses ,insurance to cover ,risk assessments for local councils to fill out ,,local couple crowned a small ash tree in the neighbors garden ,,she asked me if 450 was expensive ,,I told her let them get on with it ,heard of too many tree surgeons going home in a box from the dangers,,no matter how many years experience they have ,one slip and a kick back from the saw can be their last ,,its worth every penny that they charge

 

[Lincs Lass]

Interesting reading

Tree Surgeon Costs - How Much to Cut Down a Tree in 2019?

See how much tree surgeons are charging to cut down trees and carry our other similar work such as reductions and pollarding.

job-prices.co.uk

.

 

[br jones]

The tree surgeon i use ,400 a day for him ,his mate and chipper

 

[Henarar]

I’m going to assess the situation tomorrow hopefully, some good susgesrions so far, it’s off farm site..... guess it all comes down to cost, there are limbs of about 30ft that overhanging greenhouse and garage with absestos roof so don’t want to be taking any chances, guess it all comes down to cost, an arborist is ££ and I should image getting a 13tonner in on a low loader ain’t cheap either ....

Need photos really but providing its stood up reasonably straight there isn't much that someone with a decent winch and someone on the blunt end of a decent chainsaw couldn't throw down in to your field

 

[Agri Spec Solicitor]

Legal advice will be required to answer the question of who owns the tree. Be ready to pay for checking the various registered titles and maybe digging back into the pre registration deeds and documents. A site view is usually worth a thousand words to make sense of what has been found In the paperwork and how it applies to what is on the ground. Interpretation is the skill.
A budget for the above : say £1000.
Then there are the practical issues of how to remove the offending tree as helpfully discussed above, which may lead on to other issues.
There is obviously a negotiation on the horizon but one best undertaken after you know where you stand legally. We once had a tree rubbing on a neighbouring house when it was windy. The male householder complained, he wanted the tree to be removed. We felled the tree. The female householder complained we felled the tree.