Can I force council to prune tree that’s been leaning over my house since storm of 1987?
Our consumer lawyer answers your questions
a Tree on the pavement outside my house has leant ominously towards my roof since the storm of 1987. The tree has been left by the council to grow without any maintenance for years. I fear it could be a danger to life or to my property. What are my rights?
J.G., Raynes Park, London. Each council has an obligation to ensure that trees it owns are safe for highway users and adjacent land. This ultimately means local authorities must have maintenance policies in place, which set out a system to regularly inspect trees.
I would therefore advise you to write again to the council and ask two things. Firstly for a copy of the relevant maintenance policy in relation to the tree. Secondly ask for it to reconsider its position in relation to it, making sure you set out clearly why you feel it needs urgent attention with supporting evidence, such as photographs.
You should also tell the council you will take the matter to the Local Government and Social care Ombudsman if there is no satisfactory outcome.
If the council continues to ignore you or refuses to take action, lodge your complaint with the ombudsman, see: lgo.org. uk/how-to-complain. Make sure you send the ombudsman copies of all communications you’ve had with the council and any evidence you have to support your concerns about the safety of the tree.
Sometimes when I’m asked about unsafe trees it transpires that the tree is not owned by the council, but a neighbour. If this turns out to be the case here, write to your neighbour — and it’s important to write rather than ask verbally — and share your concerns.
The general position is that landowners have a duty of care and are therefore responsible for the safety of their trees.
If your neighbour ignores you, the next step is to contact the local council and explain the situation, as it has discretionary powers under Section 23 of the Local Government (Miscellaneous Provisions) act 1976 to deal with danger to persons or property from a tree on private land.
My NeW car has been delivered and it’s the wrong colour. The car dealer has agreed to take it back but says I won’t get a new one for months — yet won’t offer a courtesy car. Can I claim compensation from the dealer?
L.D., Stourbridge, W. Mids. WhEn you buy goods — including cars — the consumer Rights act 2015 states they must be ‘as described’ so in your case the dealership had a legal obligation to take the car back. however, as you say, this still leaves you in a position of loss as you will now have no car for a number of months.
My view is you can claim compensation or demand a courtesy car from the dealership, under one of two principles.
Firstly, under the consumer Rights act, where goods are being replaced, the trader must provide the replacement ‘within a reasonable time’ and ‘without significant inconvenience to the consumer’.
Your dealership is probably not breaching the first element as it takes time to source new cars but clearly you are being inconvenienced and this gives you grounds to ask for recompense or a courtesy car.
The second approach you could take is to state that under English Law the remedy for breach of contract (the breach being the car was the wrong colour) is to put the innocent party (you) back into the position you would have been in had the breach not occurred.
This would mean you have a car to drive, either the new one or your old car before you sold or part exchanged it, if this is what you did. applying this principle will mean the dealership will either have to provide you with a car to use or pay you compensation so you are not out of pocket while waiting for the replacement to arrive.
If the dealership rejects your claim, you could take the matter to the small claims court, if you feel it’s worth it financially.
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