There is a water-treatment plant beside our house being managed by a private company. At the time of construction, in the early 2000s, they planted trees to landscape the plant. The trees have grown so large now they block the sun from our garden and from my office, which is in the garden, and we have repeatedly asked for them to be trimmed but have met with blank refusal. They say the cost is prohibitive. What can we do?
High trees growing close to property boundaries are frequently the subject of disputes between adjoining property owners. Rights to light, risk of storm damage and adverse effect on solar panels performance are among the issues that arise.
A right to light is an easement and is a somewhat complex issue. It is usually acquired by prescription (long use). Generally, there is not a right to direct sunlight and rights to indirect or dispersed light usually apply to windows of habitable buildings, including residences and workplaces. The 2009 Land and Conveyancing Law Reform Act provided for the reduction of the 20 years’ time period necessary to establish a right to light. However, the subsequent 2021 legislation broadly re-establishes the pre-2009 time period requirement.
In your case, your right to light – that is, indirect sunlight to your office – would be acquired over time, during which you would have benefited from adequate natural light before the trees had reached a height to adversely affect your enjoyment of this natural light.
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However, if your office was established in recent years when the trees had substantially reached their present height, it would be difficult to demonstrate a measurable loss of light and therefore difficult to establish that your right to light had been infringed upon. A planning condition to plant the trees for screening cannot override a right to light that you may have.
Before considering further action, I suggest you re-engage with the treatment plant management in a nonadversarial manner and invite them into your garden to view and consider the impact of the trees from your perspective and to reconsider their position and possibly lower the heights of some of the trees. Explain that you will have to consider legal advice on your options.
If they remain uncooperative you should document as much factual information as possible and seek legal advice to assess if you have established a right to light, or if you may have a case under nuisance law because of unreasonable interference with the use and enjoyment of your property.
As both light and nuisance are notably difficult issues to quantify without measurement over time, you may need to engage a chartered building surveyor to prepare a report for you to brief your solicitor. The information you require includes the age, approximate height and categories/species of the trees, the length of time you are using your office, the distance to the trees and boundary from your office, the dimensions and orientation of your office window/s, any relevant conditions in relation to screening or boundary treatment attached to the treatment plants planning approval, early (about 2010-2015) and recent versions of Google aerial view maps, and also photographs of your garden – preferably dated – that include the trees and your office.
It is advisable to check if the land on which the water-treatment plant is located is registered by the Land Registry, as its operators may not be the registered owners.
If you present the above information to your solicitor, preferably as part of a building surveyor’s report, your solicitor will advise you on the best way forward.
Patrick Shine is a chartered geomatics surveyor, a chartered civil engineer and a member of the Society of Chartered Surveyors Ireland
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