A TREE that residents wanted removed - but a council arborist wanted heritage listed - has smashed into a Sydney house, narrowly missing the owners who now find themselves homeless.

The 27m-high Norfolk Island pine came down in wild weather at Allambie Heights on the weekend, crashing through the roof near the bedroom of Rock and Kendall Davis-Bogan. The couple are furious Warringah Council was warned the tree was unstable but refused a request by their neighbour, on whose property it was growing, to cut it down less than two years ago.

"Through no fault of ours, or our neighbours, this tree has smashed our house and destroyed our lives," Mrs Davis-Bogan told the Manly Daily yesterday.

Such is the damage the house might have to be demolished. When their neighbour wrote to the council in June 2011, asking for permission to remove the tree, he stated it was growing in just 50cm of soil and did not have deep roots.

But the council rejected the request, ruling it should be heritage listed.

A council spokesperson said the inspection was undertaken 18 months ago and "tree conditions can change over time".