Garden Offices: A Growing Risk for Insurers
Garden offices have boomed since 2020, fuelled by hybrid working and the desire for separate home workspaces. Yet many were built quickly, often on shallow slabs, close to mature trees — and they’re now becoming a significant and under-reported source of subsidence and structural claims. 1. The Construction Problem Most garden offices are lightweight, timber-framed […]
Tree Owner’s Responsibility for Leaf Litter
*(England & Wales)* 1. General Position Fallen leaves, twigs, fruit, blossom, and similar natural detritus are regarded in law as “natural occurrences”. Their mere presence on neighbouring land, in gutters, or drains does not normally give rise to liability in nuisance, negligence, or trespass. The law distinguishes between encroachment (e.g. roots or branches growing into […]
Tree Root Subsidence — Balancing Cost, Carbon and Reputation
Unlike most insured perils, subsidence doesn’t stop when you make a claim. It continues quietly, season after season, until the cause is removed or controlled. That’s what makes mitigation both essential and sensitive. The duty to mitigate Once evidence shows that a tree is causing movement, the claimant — and by extension their insurer — […]
Uncovering the impact: TPO protected trees felled because of subsidence
How Many TPO-Protected Trees Are Felled Each Year Because of Subsidence? It’s a question that often crops up in our work: how many protected trees are actually felled each year because of subsidence? The short answer — no one really knows. There’s no national dataset that links Tree Preservation Orders (TPOs) to subsidence-related decisions. But […]
Social Landlords: managing trees and damage caused by trees
Trees are part of the character of many housing estates. They improve air quality, provide shade, and contribute to residents’ wellbeing. Yet for social landlords, trees also carry one of the most difficult and costly risks: tree root subsidence. Subsidence occurs when soil beneath a property shrinks, usually in clay-rich ground, leading to movement in […]
Architects: Top tree law issues
Trees enrich the urban environment, provide habitat and soften the hard edges of our built landscape, but they also bring legal responsibilities and constraints that every architect should understand. Designing around existing trees often means navigating a complex web of planning laws, ownership rights and liabilities. This article introduces the main tree‑related legal issues that […]
Homeowners: What is tree root subsidence damage?
When cracks begin to snake across internal plaster or creeping jagged fissures appear in brickwork, homeowners often fear subsidence. In the UK, this anxiety is heightened during long dry summers when clay soils shrink. One of the culprits frequently blamed is the humble tree. Mature trees provide shade, wildlife habitat and curb appeal, yet their […]
Local Authorities: changes in the law, 2006 to date
There has been a lot of change in tree law over the past, nearly, 20 years. I reflected on the changes which are likely to be of relevance to public sector land owners and break down some of the key dates and changes. 2006 – 2012 – Sheffield street tree Sheffield’s Streets Ahead programme set […]
Architects: Introduction to tree law
This week we got to give an introduction to trees and the law as a session to the RIBA Academy. This was the first time such a tree-focused session had been run and it was a privilege to be on the panel of speakers. In today’s increasingly green-conscious design landscape, the presence of trees on […]
Rooted in Us: Why Britain Loves Trees
Walk down any British street, and you’re never far from a tree. The urban forest is something that the UK focuses on as living near trees significantly improves the quality of our lives in cities. A hedge-bound oak leaning into the road, a churchyard yew older than the country itself, a line of limes whispering […]
