Solving tree nuisance? Free legal advice!

Questioner

Hello, I hope you can help. My neighbor across the street has 3 large trees in his garden, he has not done anything to them for years and just lets them grow, just like his other shrubs in his garden. Now I recently asked him when he was going to take them down a notch because I have not had any sun in the house for years. But he did not start. He only removed branches from the bottom. Now there are 4 neighbors across the street who no longer have any sun in the house after 4 p.m., it also gets dark quickly in the house. We also have a lot of nuisance from the falling leaves. We would prefer the trees to be removed from his garden so that we have more light in the house again. What can we do about this. The trees have been there for about 20 years, I have heard that it was expired or something. Awaiting your message, kind regards

Lawyer

The presence of trees may not block out so much light that you and the others do not receive sunlight in your home for a large part of the day. This would constitute unlawful nuisance. The trees may be too close to the property boundary and this fact may indeed expire after 20 years. It can still be demanded that overhanging branches be pruned away, including branches that cause too much leaf fall. Apart from that, your municipality may have a policy document on trees and greenery and you can take action against this via the municipality.

Lawyer

In professional literature we call this 'green nuisance'. The annoying thing is that green nuisance is difficult to determine: # people experience green nuisance very differently: what one person likes in terms of shade, another does not like at all; # the judiciary does have a preference for trees - because they generally improve a living environment (judges are rather 'tree lovers' and unfortunately quickly consider green nuisance to be 'nuisance') # in addition, the judiciary does indeed take into account that trees grow 'normally' and that everyone must take this into account or # if people have voluntarily taken it into account for years, the doctrine of limitation stipulates that they can no longer complain about it. There are a few rules of thumb that the judiciary gives, in case of green nuisance. Nothing more, because every situation is different. These are: > trees may grow higher than 3 or 4 meters >no one has the right to an unobstructed view - at least not all year round > you should be able to sit in your own garden without being constantly bothered by the neighbour's tree (falling leaves, bird droppings, etc.) > you don't have to accept that your neighbor's tree will overshadow half of your garden > just as the neighbours' trees take away all the light from your garden - no sun in the afternoon and falling leaves in the autumn is allowed and therefore not illegal In short: you will have to accept a certain degree of inconvenience, only when your inconvenience becomes extreme will you be given right by the judge. When is inconvenience extreme? If this inconvenience leads to the inability to use your house and/or garden normally (the light must always be on in the middle of the day, you can barely sit in the sun for an hour a day, your entire garden is covered in a thick layer of leaves from the neighbour's tree or trees, etc.), then there may be a question of green nuisance and you can address the neighbour to provide a solution. Whether that is the case in your case, I unfortunately cannot judge from here. For inspiration and examples, take a look at the Rijdende Rechter: they often rule on these types of cases. My advice is: (1) Keep a logbook in which you note when (time, season, etc.) you experience nuisance. (2) Also write down what kind of nuisance you experience (shade, bird droppings, etc.) and what it looks like (so state facts: 'no sun between time x and y', 'all laundry covered in bird droppings', etc.). (3) If possible, also take photos and/or describe the nuisance in detail. (4) Then go talk to the neighbours who are causing the green nuisance and explain your problem. Try to find a solution together. (5) Record the solution in writing - I can provide you with a discussion form for this purpose. (6) If all else fails, please contact me or another lawyer to see if there are any legal options available.