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Can we plant as we please on our land? How to use a neighbor whose plantations bother you?
The distances are to be respected.
A minimum distance of 50 cm must be respected for plantations that are less than 2 m in height, and 2 m for plantations intended to be more than 2 m in height. In width, from the middle of the trunk of the tree, and, in height, from the ground to the tip. Check with the services of the town hall if there are no specific customs or regulations that would come against the rules laid down by law. In some highly urbanized areas, there are no minimum distances to be respected.
My neighbor’s plantations bother me.
If they do not respect the distances laid down by law and if you are the owner or usufructuary of the land, you can ask for it to be pruned or uprooted. Discuss it with your neighbor first and, if he turns a deaf ear, send him a formal notice to respect the distances. If there is no change, have a bailiff’s report drawn up so that you can appeal to the district court of the place concerned. There are three cases where it is impossible to act even if the minimum distances are not respected: a notarial deed has formalized an agreement between the neighbors; the land is divided in such a way that the distances have not been respected; distances have not been respected for more than thirty years.
The obligation of maintenance.
The owner or tenant of land is always required to maintain his plantations, in particular by pruning.
NB
The Court of Cassation recalls that, in addition to the noise, you are entitled to require your neighbor to prune the branches that protrude from your home, regardless of the species of tree in question, whether it is of a large bicentenary oak tree or a small shrub. May the peace of the households come at least to attenuate these relations, of good neighborliness…
Indeed you do not have the right to cut yourself the branches of your neighbor’s tree which protrude on your land because they are his property. You can only force him to cut them. If your neighbor does not perform his pruning obligation, it is possible to bring the dispute before the magistrate. This one can then order the pruning of the tree, even if your neighbor has respected the legal distances of the establishment.
You should know that the law makes the right to plant trees on the edge of an adjoining property subject to compliance with certain rules of distance and height in relation to this property. However, if you do not know the exact boundaries that separate your land from that of your neighbor, it may be useful to have the land marked out.
Société d’Avocats DAMY, Nice, Neighbourhood: what are the rules for plantations? 2022 Update
