Homeowner refuses to chop hedge down after neighbour said it 'ruined' their view
A homeowner was slapped with a complaint after they refused to chop down a hedge blocking their neighbours' outside view. The couple, who live in the property, decided to plant hedges due to privacy concerns and to block people from peeking into their garden in case their nephews paid them a visit.
When they bought the property, the homeowner and his partner were aware the building would need to be completely transformed as it had once been a hotel. The tenant tried to combat one of the property's major faults, an unfenced garden near an open road. To solve the privacy issue, the couple planted a hedge as a barrier.
However, once they did this, they were faced with an even bigger problem. On one side of their garden is a small cottage, which was purchased separately by an elderly couple, who later turned the place into an Air B&B. In a post on Reddit, the property owner said: "We were unaware that the elderly couple had sold the cottage to a relative of theirs and that he had planned to turn it into an Airbnb. We only know this now as after a summer of growth the owner had finally noticed the small 'hedge' and realised what we'd done."
They have now said the elderly couple have made a formal complaint against them. The homeowner wrote: "He, and the couple, have sent official looking letters stating we are impeding their reasonable enjoyment of the property as they had planned to market the cottage as part of the property with "views of a historical landmark" and once our hedge is full height that view will be greatly diminished if not almost entirely gone.
Uner the comments section, one Reddit user agreed with the homeowner over his concerns, writing: "This is your home. I don't feel anyone has the right to gawk at your home and if your neighbour wanted view so badly they should have bought the property." Another person weighing both sides of the argument added: "There is such a thing as 'protected view' but these are normally very specific national historically important sites."
'I don't want children staying up late at weekends - I really need adult time'
High hedges can be a nuisance to neighbours, particularly when they grow to the extent of blocking light from a property. Where a hedge becomes a problem, you can make a formal complaint to your local council. According to Citizen Advice, if you and your neighbour disagree about a problem with a tree or hedge, it's best to try to resolve things informally, however, if the problem continues, you might have to take formal action. The experts say: "Your neighbour can cut any branches that are overhanging into their garden as long as they only remove the bits on their side of the boundary. If they want you to cut your tree or hedge just because they don't like the way it looks, it's up to you whether you do the work."
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