Subsidence, settlement and heave
The survey suggests a tree is relevant to a crack and does not say whether the tree is protected. What consent question is outside the inspection?
The consent question outside the inspection is whether this tree is protected and, if it is, what consent would be needed before it is pruned or removed. The survey suggests the tree is relevant to a crack. It does not say the tree is protected, and it has not checked that point. Historic England explains that listing covers the whole building. That explanation is not a tree decision, and the survey does not grant consent. Protection of the tree, whatever form it takes, was not established on this visit.
Last reviewed 24 October 2026. Written for buyers in England and Wales unless this answer says otherwise. No named surveyor has signed this page. It is general guidance, not a report on your house, and not legal advice.
What is the fuller explanation?
A crack and a nearby tree can be discussed as a building and grounds observation without anyone opening the planning record. Tree protection is a different file: it may sit with the council, and it is not answered by how the trunk looked. Listing, as Historic England describes it, covers the whole of a listed building. It does not, by this survey, tell you the status of this tree, and it does not authorise work. Silence here is an unchecked question.
Ask the solicitor to raise the tree with the local searches or with the council information they rely on, and to say whether any consent would be needed before cutting. Do not book the tree surgeon on the back of the crack note alone. If the house is listed, keep the building's listing and the tree's status as separate enquiries. The survey can keep the crack. It cannot grant, or refuse, consent to touch the tree.
What should you ask your surveyor?
- Did you link the tree to the crack without checking whether the tree is protected?
- Are you leaving consent for any pruning or removal outside this report?
- Have you avoided treating the building's listing, if any, as a tree consent?
What are the typical next steps?
- Ask the solicitor whether the tree is protected.
- Do not treat the survey as consent to prune or remove it.
- Keep the crack note separate from the consent question.
Costs vary with the building and with who you instruct. Where this page does not cite a published figure, ask the surveyor, a relevant specialist, or your solicitor for a written quote. Do not treat a forum average as the price.
Also asked about this
If the tree is inside a garden of a listed house, has listing already decided the tree?
Not in this report. Historic England explains that listing covers the whole building. The survey has not decided the tree, and it has not granted consent to cut it. Ask the solicitor what actually applies to this tree before any cutting.
Does relevance to a crack mean the tree should come down?
No. Relevance is the survey's suggestion that the tree sits with the crack. It is not a prescription to fell, and it says nothing about consent. The inspection has not authorised removal and has not checked protection. Consent was not given.