Q & A: Cutting down on overgrown gardens
My next door neighbour’s garden is completely overgrown. Shrubs and plants have fully fledged onto my side of the boundary and are blocking the light to my garden. Can I cut them?
Andrew Smith of Child and Child in Belgravia, London provided the following advice:
If your neighbour’s shrubs and plants are growing across the boundary into your garden, then your neighbour is committing a nuisance at law and you are entitled to take steps to abate the nuisance.
You may therefore cut off the shrubs and plants, although you may not cut back anything beyond the boundary. If the hedges are more than two metres in height and consist wholly or mainly of evergreen or semi-evergreen shrubs and act as a barrier to light, then you can make a complaint to the local authority under the Anti Social Behaviour Act 2003.
The local authority may then require the hedge to be cut back. If the neighbour refuses to comply, he or she may be liable to a fine of up to £1,000. If the shrubs and plants were affecting the light to your house, then you may be able to bring a claim against your neighbour on the basis that your rights of light are being infringed. It appears, however, that it is only your garden which is suffering a diminution in light, in which case, no action will be available on that basis – rights of light attach to buildings, not to gardens.
Comments
My neighbours garden is beautiful - but at the back I have a fence 3' high and on their side they have a large hedge (laurel? i think) which is now around 10 feet high and leaning into my garden more and more. They used to get it cut back each year but we are not on good speaking terms now and I think they are not cutting it out of spite. Do I have the right to request they cut it back or do I have to pay to get it done myself - which doesn't seem at all fair!
Thanks
Carrie
Posted by: Carrie Quinn | June 19, 2008 09:22 AM