Hi Everyone, I’m new here. We bought a house in the northeast of France a year ago. We’re loving it and have felt very welcomed by the locals. Yesterday however we discovered that the farmer next door had cut down one of the ancient trees growing just on our side of the boundary with his property. He also loped off a giant part of an even older, and therefore more precious to us, ironwood tree. Do any of you know what the law says about trees on or near property lines? Also what is the etiquette in this culture around that? We are quite heartbroken about the trees but a good relationship with the neighbour is also important. Thanks for any and all advice. Bev
Hi Beverley and welcome to the forum.
As a matter of interest… what did the neighbour do with the fallen wood… did he put it back into your area ??
There are strict rules about trees on/near boundaries. I quote a recent happening: Trees on the boundary/land of a Second Home… growing into the roadway, designated as dangerous to traffic and cables etc.
An official letter, requesting tree-trimming was sent to the last known address of the Property Owner…
After a length of time and receiving no answer or action… the council workmen were sent to trim said trees. Minimum cutting was done and all wood was put back over the boundary.
Some while later, the Mairie gets a visit from a furious stranger… horrified to find his trees “vandalized” and threatening legal action against “whoever was responsible”…
2 things to note.
The official letter was NOT sent to this gentleman as no-one realized the property had been sold. It was sent to the address the Mairie had on file for the Owner of that holiday home…
The work carried out was within the law… 
Why not have a word with your neighbour/farmer next door… he is within his rights to keep his land clear of your trees… but, of course, it is so much nicer if this can be done with your agreement/knowledge and even your help… 
The implication of Beverley’s post is that he came onto her land and completely cut down the tree which is somewhat more extreme than “keeping his land clear of your trees” and sounds as though he was working beyond the rights enshrined in law.
As far as I know you are allowed to cut overhanging branches from a neighbour’s tree but the wood remains their property - as Stella mentioned.
I also think you are not supposed to plant anything which will grow higher than 2.5m within 1m of the boundary but, presumably, ancient trees are not covered by that.
I have some pretty substantial oaks in the corners of my property.
Paul… sadly, no matter how big and old… if a tree is deemed to impinge on a neighbour… it can be chopped/lopped, sometimes having its beauty ruined (in my view)…
As always, discussion is best to avoid drastic measures if at all possible.
Whether or not he came onto Bev’s land… is not clear… but laws of trespass in France allow access for work to be done…
Which is actually fair enough.
You are quite correct on access, pretty certain it is the same in the UK - and I completely agree with your first comment. It sounds as though the farmer in question did not discuss it with Bev, he might have been acting totally reasonably as far as the tree goes (though it doesn’t really sound that way) but not mentioning his plans to Bev is impolite at the very least.
I suspect we do not have all the details/facts of the matter…
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Very likely 
But when did that stop the Internet getting all heated up about a topic 
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I’m glad something is heating up… it’s actually quite chilly around here… 
Next week should be warmer, the depression out over the Atlantic is going to pull some warm air up over west France and the UK.
Hi folks - it’s good to get some response so soon. He came onto our property, cut down the tree, and took the wood without discussing it. He has our contact info and we saw and spoke with him 2 weeks ago. He never mentioned it then. We have since confronted him and he admits he was wrong. He was clearing his own land to bring in cattle and just kept going past the boundary. The ancient trees did have branches hanging over but he cut down the whole tree and took the wood - NOT OK! He says he’ll return the wood and be more aware in the future. It doesn’t really help much but I’m glad he admitted his fault and apologised. He has a very different attitude to trees, animals and nature in general than we do which I do understand. I just would like him to respect our choices too. Thanks for the input.
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Excellent outcome (apart from the loss of the tree). He admitted he was wrong… not an easy thing for anyone to do… so glad you are both talking.
Well done… and you might even find he becomes a friend … given time…not simply a neighbour… let’s hope so.
(just a thought… do you have a fence/wire/whatever marking where your boundary actually runs ??.. if not, might be an idea… )
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I must admit I’d be upset if someone cut down a tree on my land to Beverley. But to steal to wood too is a bit Rich! But, at least he has apologised and it’s maybe better to accept that and move on than make an enemy of a local. I must admit I’m a bit concerned our new neighbours may not be that welcoming of us when we move in. The farmer who owns all of the land around the property I’m currently purchasing wanted to buy the field plot but not the house my vendor has said no to him. Apparently he wasn’t too happy about that. However, we hope we have a cunning plan to keep him inside for now. We are unlikely to be in a position to have animals grazing the land for at least the next 4-5 years. So the Notaire is going to write to the farmer and offer him a yearly contract to graze the fields free of charge on our part. We will each sign a new contract yearly until such time we want the land for ourselves. Hopefully it will keep us in his good books and may buy us so help from time to time with a few things. It’s worth a try anyway.
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Make sure the agreement stipulates that the farmer is responsible for any stock kept on the land and the security of fences etc.
If they were to get out and damage other property you might find yourself liable if it is not clearly his responsibility.
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Oooops… Brian… not a good idea.
Locally… a land-owner did much the same thing. New contract each year… for a few years. Finally, Land-owner wanted to sell and advised Farmer that the land would no longer be available… he wanted no restrictions on the land…
Cutting long-story short… the Courts decided in favour of the Farmer, as he had been using the land for consecutive years…(annual contract being rubbished by the Court)… and the Landowner ended up the loser.
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Might work if the contract is for 4 years with the option to terminate each year rather than yearly renewal.
As Stella says you have to be careful about these things.
Perhaps speak to a solicitor in the UK who specialises in French property law (we used Heslopp & Pratt). I know Notaires are supposed to be inpartial but ……
Edit: Don’t do this - see how the conversation develops below. It is almost certainly a bad idea to have any written contract to use the land (and probably a bad idea to allow regular use in any shape or form).
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As I say… the Court was quite decided… no matter what the paperwork… the fact that the Farmer had used the land consecutively was the nub of the matter…
The Court gave options: the Landowner had to continue to allow the Farmer to use the land… or pay compensation or sell the land - to the Farmer. He sold one part of the land to the Farmer (land is cheap)… and also paid a hefty amount for the portion he wanted to keep “free and clear” around the dwelling… poor fellow, it cost him dearly… 
as the two transactions did not cancel one another …
Around here… this was an important lesson for everyone… you can lose control of your land… a year lying fallow in between allowing a farmer … might well have saved him… but folk prefer verbal… “put your cows on now” and then “get your cows off now” (in friendly fashion)… that works well.
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Quite, in fact I was going to post a generic “be careful of what rights the farmer might acquire” warning but then realised I did not have a concrete example to hand - and didn’t want to make a baseless claim.
Your example seems to confirm this can happen.
But, I wonder, what about farmers who rent - surely this would be a significant deterrent to anyone who might rent land with a view to changing use at some point; indeed it seems to suggest that is impossible. I assume this happens in France (maybe not) in which case there must be some way of making it watertight to protect the owner of the land from this situation.
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Land rented to Farmers… mmm… I know one couple who had to undertake raising horses (I think it was that, can’t remember the details)… but something like that… so they could justly claim that they needed the land for their own “farming activity”… they got it back, after due Notice was served.
Anyone wanting to let others “use” their land…(under whatever regime)… needs to be very careful to understand the implications… and the restraints…
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I don’t suppose that the trial transcript/judgement is available online is it?
That way Barry will have details of the precident when he says “I don’t want this to happen” to the Notaire.
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