Mortgage, homebuyer and subsidence tree reports
Reports for lenders, insurers and solicitors on tree influence, clay shrinkage and subsidence risk, answering the retention your surveyor has flagged.
A surveyor flags a tree, the lender retains part of the advance, and the sale stalls. The question is almost always the same one: is this tree implicated in movement to the building, or is it simply close to it. Proximity alone is not influence, and a great many retentions are lifted once somebody measures rather than estimates.
We assess species, height, distance and water demand against the foundation depth and the soil, take the NHBC zone of influence and BRE Digest 298 guidance as the framework, and write the finding in the language the lender, insurer or solicitor is expecting. Where works or removal are needed, the report specifies them and covers the protected status position at the same time.
What the work involves.
What the lender is asking
A valuation or Home Survey that notes a tree near the property will often recommend an arboricultural report before the advance is released in full. The surveyor is not claiming the tree is causing damage; they are declining to rule it out. What resolves the retention is a report that addresses influence directly, in writing, from someone qualified to be held to it.
How influence is assessed
Three things decide it: the species and its water demand, the mature height and distance relative to the building, and the soil. A high water demand species on a shrinkable clay within its zone of influence is a real concern. The same species on gravel, or a low demand species at twice the distance, is not. Foundation depth and construction date matter as much as the tree, because shallow foundations in clay are the vulnerability the tree exploits.
Damage that is not subsidence
A good share of the trees blamed for damage are doing something else entirely, or nothing at all. Direct root damage to a path or drain, heave following a previous removal, and seasonal movement unrelated to vegetation all get attributed to the nearest large tree. Distinguishing them matters, because removing a mature tree from a clay site can cause heave that is more expensive than the problem it was meant to solve.
What the report concludes
A clear written opinion on whether the tree is implicated, and a recommendation you can act on: no action, a management specification, or removal with the reasoning attached. Where the tree is protected we confirm that position in the same report, so you are not sent off to make a second application you did not know about. The report is addressed to your lender, insurer or solicitor and written to be read by them.
Questions about this service.
If yours is not here, ask it directly. We would rather answer before you commission than after.
Ask a questionWhat is a mortgage tree report and when do I need one?
A mortgage tree report is an arboricultural report addressed to the lender or insurer when a surveyor has flagged a tree near the property. We assess species, height, distance and water demand against the foundation and the soil, using the NHBC zone of influence and BRE Digest 298 as the framework, and give a written opinion on whether the tree is implicated. Proximity on its own is not influence.
How close can a tree be to a house?
There is no single safe distance. The NHBC zone of influence is calculated from the species water demand and its mature height, so a willow or poplar warrants attention much further out than a birch or a fruit tree, and on a shrinkable clay the foundation depth the tree demands increases with it. The soil and the foundation depth decide the answer as much as the tree does.
Will removing the tree solve a subsidence problem?
Sometimes, and sometimes it creates a worse one. Removing a mature high water demand tree from a shrinkable clay site can allow the soil to recover moisture and swell, causing heave that damages the building differently. That is precisely why the assessment should come before the chainsaw.
Tell us the site and the deadline.
You get a fixed price and a realistic survey date back, not a discovery call.