‘Over-groan’: Almost 12,000 Brits battling unruly neighbouring gardens

Nearly 12,000 enraged Brits have made an official complaint about the dire state of their neighbour’s garden over the last year, new data has revealed. 

The findings come after local services marketplace, Airtasker, conducted a three-month-long investigation into one of the most common causes of arguments across neighbourhoods in Britain, garden disputes. 

By submitting Freedom of Information (FOI) requests to every local authority across the UK, the investigation was able to paint a comprehensive picture of the nation’s garden gripes.

Airtasker’s ‘Garden gripe report’ named London as the ‘UK’s Garden gripe capital’, accounting for 1,333 complaints from frustrated residents, with overgrown hedges named the most frequent complaint.

While London may make up one tenth (11%) of the nation’s 11,633 garden nightmares, the complaints span the breadth of the UK as well. 

Regionally, outside of Greater London, data shows North West residents are keen to let local authorities know when neighbouring gardens are getting unruly, clocking up 1,174 complaints since May last year. This was closely followed by Brits in the South East (1,032 complaints) and the West Midlands (816 complaints). 

UK breakdown by region includes: 

Tim Fung, Chief Executive and Founder of Airtasker, says: “As a platform we pride ourselves on helping hundreds of people fix up their gardens every year and keep them under control. But, as we near the end of summer, many gardens across the UK will have grown out of control if they’ve not been managed. 

“For those that don’t have the time or feel unable to tackle key jobs in the garden it seems outsourcing these tasks to an expert is becoming an increasingly popular choice. Our own data further highlights this – in July we saw a 763% year-on-year increase in gardening tasks posted to our site.

“We hope our investigation can help to shine a light on the unruly gardens’ causing friction amongst local residents, and encourage those in power to take the appropriate action in addressing this issue.”

The most common cause of disputes included ‘overgrown garden’, ‘overgrown hedges’ to ‘vermin’ and ‘rubbish’. 

In fact 21% of all complaints across the UK were about overgrown gardens and interestingly, tidying up overgrown gardens is one of the most common garden tasks listed on Airtasker’s marketplace. In July this year, there was a 394% increase in the number of tasks posted about this compared to the same month last year. 

Beyond the regions, the research also broke the data down by location, identifying areas that received the most complaints related to neighbouring gardens, the top 10 include: 

The experts at Airtasker also offered advice on how Brits can resolve three common garden disputes:

Pruning overhanging trees/bushes

You are allowed to prune branches that overhang into your property up to the boundary line. However, always communicate with your neighbour first, as improper pruning leading to damage could result in a costly property damage claim.

Light being blocked by high hedges and bushes

A neighbour’s high hedge or shed blocking light can lead to disputes due to the ‘right to light,’ which entitles a person to a certain amount of natural light. Ignoring this right may result in legal action or compensation claims.

Invasive plants and weeds

If invasive plants like Japanese knotweed are in your garden, take immediate steps to prevent them from spreading, as this can be a criminal offence. Seek professional advice for removal and consult a dispute lawyer if needed, as landowners may seek an injunction or compensation for damages.