Tree in excess of 10m height, 4m from property causing home insurance issues and subsidence risk
Sent to Merton Council less than a minute later. Council ref: SRQ-1272889-Z4N8W6.
Tree has been allowed to grow without any height management. It is now exceeding 10m and has to be declared on home insurance increasing costs. Council should be pollarding and managing height.
Updates
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Thank you for reporting a problem with a street tree.
We aim to inspect street tree problems within 10 working days of being reported, or 2 hours if the tree is dangerous. We aim to carry out any necessary work within 30 working days.
Did you know…?
We care for more than 20,000 street trees in Merton, including pruning, pollarding, and planting hundreds each year to keep streets green, safe, and walkable.
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Thank you for your report. There is no set size for a tree. Trees are expected to grow up and large that taking in more carbon to mitigate climate change. Council has no obligation to control tree height to match conditions in insurance policy. We can appreciate that there can be a common concern in regard to tree roots undermining a property. It is rare for the direct action of roots to damage a house. However, they may affect lighter structures such as garden walls and/or paving. Trees may cause damage if they are growing on shrinkable clay soil for example, where the roots can remove the moisture from the soil and cause movement as the ground dries out (although the effect is variable and depends on the type of clay soil, foundation design, species of tree, rainfall, and distance between the tree and the property). Tree related subsidence is a complex issue, and each case will need to be considered on an individual basis to ensure that it is the tree that is causing the problem and not some other factor.
We got lots of trees growing on clay soil and close to buildings, but only a few did cause damage.
To advise if a resident identified damage or subsidence, they are advised to contact their insurance company in the first instance so that they can discuss their concerns and agree an appropriate course of action. Should they, or those acting on their behalf, wish to make a claim for damages against the Council, alleging that a Council owned tree has caused damage to their property, they will be required to submit an independent report to the Council to support their claim. Where evidence provided can confirm that a council owned tree is implicated in building subsidence or damage, we will take appropriate action to that specific tree.
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