Recommendation for a large shrub/tree to obscure a house...

My neighbours house is seperated by about 8' from mine (on the side) and I would like a tree/shrub to obscure it - so I'm looking at a nice tree/shrub not a house...

The ideal tree/shrub would be:
Colorful (flowers?) in summer
Retain some leaves/coverage in winter
Fast growing (to obscure the view faster)
Would need a height of 12' or more
Have a large spread at the top (wide) i.e. a conifer is the wrong shape)
Have roots that will not damage the house fondations - it would be planted about 2m from each house.

I was looking at a pineapple Broom - is this a good choice? obviously it will only be 2' tall when I buy it so how long would it take to frow to 8' and 12' (a book says it will grow to 15-16')...

I could also do with 1-2 more thinks to obscure houses behind mine as well but these would be 10m away from a house so the roots are less of a concern however but trees grow slow...

 

I reckon 2m is too close to both properties to plant a tree big enough to obscure the other house. If the tree thrives, its roots will surely go places you won't want them, like into drains and soakaways. If the roots get into the subsoil, they can contribute to subsidence by extracting moisture. In the past, I've been amazed at how far the roots from quite small trees can spread. And trees always seem to end up bigger than their owners expected them to be.

There are recommended tree planting distances from buildings that you can find via Google. I'd check them out very carefully.

My advice would be to stick to a shrub of some kind and not worry if you can see a bit of house over the top of it! Mind you, my neighbour's big old hedge of escallonia got its roots into my drains some years ago....!