Felling licences and woodland grants: England, Scotland, Wales, Northern Ireland and Ireland
Each forestry office in the UK and Ireland publishes when a licence or permission to fell trees is needed. This page sets out what each forestry office says about when one is needed, the limits it names, the one fee that is published, and the woodland grants the same offices list.
Checked against the sources at the bottom of this page on October 9, 2026. Rules, fees and pay change: the source has the last word.
This page reports what the named codes, regulators and makers say. It is not training and does not teach the work. This page reports what the official source says. It is not legal advice: ask the office named here. The felling rules in the other countries are on the felling rules by country guide, and the UK tree preservation and conservation area rules are on the UK council tree rules guide. Courses are on the felling small trees award page and the certifications guide.
Felling licences side by side
| Country and office | What the office says is needed | Limits and exemptions it names |
|---|---|---|
| England, Forestry Commission (page published July 8, 2026) | A licence is needed to fell growing trees anywhere in England, with exemptions listed. Licences are free. Felling without one, where one is required, is an offence. | Trees of 8 cm or more over bark diameter (15 cm or more for coppice or underwood) at 1.3 m above ground. Over those sizes, a licence is needed to fell more than 5 cubic metres in a calendar quarter, and up to 2 of those 5 cubic metres can be sold. Exceptions include preventing danger or nuisance and tree maintenance such as lopping and topping. |
| Scotland, Scottish Forestry | A felling permission unless the work is exempt. It says most clear felling needs one and that felling must not begin until written permission is issued. Restocking is a mandatory condition. | Exemptions are listed on the office's exemptions guidance. A stand-alone application is typically processed within 12 weeks of a valid application. A long term forest plan for forests over 100 hectares gives felling and restocking permission for the first 10 years. |
| Wales, Natural Resources Wales | The correct licence in place before any felling starts. It is an offence to cut down some trees without one, and also to sell timber illegally cut down. The unlimited fine is for illegal felling. | No licence for trees in a garden, orchard, churchyard or public open space; lopping and topping such as pollarding; less than 5 cubic metres in a calendar quarter; a dangerous tree where danger is real and immediate; fully windblown trees; work with planning permission. Trees measured at 1.3 m with diameters of 8 cm or less, 10 cm or less for thinning, or 15 cm or less for cutting coppice. |
| Northern Ireland, DAERA Forest Service | The office says that since June 17, 2013 a felling licence is needed by owners of private woodlands of 0.2 hectares or more, and that the woodland is to be re-established as set out in an approved felling management plan. A licence lasts at least five years. | No licence to fell fruit trees or garden, city park or churchyard trees, for development with planning permission, for scrub of young trees up to 8 cm in diameter, for lopping or topping, or for up to 5 cubic metres in a calendar quarter. Full exemptions are in section 15 of the Forestry Act (Northern Ireland) 2010. |
| Ireland, Department of Agriculture, Food and the Marine | A felling licence granted by the Minister under the Forestry Act 2014, to fell or remove trees and to thin a forest for silvicultural reasons. | The Department publishes an exempted tree information note and a standards of felling and reforestation document. Its fee is €20 per licence application, in force for applications made from October 7, 2020. The page was last updated October 7, 2026. |
Who the England page says is responsible
The Forestry Commission page says only someone with an interest in the land, such as a freeholder, leaseholder or tenant, or an agent acting for them, can apply. It says everyone involved can be prosecuted if there is no licence where one is required or the wrong trees are cut, and that landowners, tenants, agents, timber merchants and contractors are all responsible for checking permissions before work starts. Anyone claiming an exception, it says, needs records such as photos, maps, surveys and permissions to prove it. Felling licences usually require restocking, it says, but a licence for thinning only is usually unconditional. The licence text above is adapted from GOV.UK under the Open Government Licence v3.0.
Scotland: restrictions to check first
Scottish Forestry says an applicant checks restrictions before applying, using its Land Information Search for special protection areas, special areas of conservation, sites of special scientific interest and archaeological sites. It says felling within, next to or connected to a special protection area or special area of conservation may need a Habitat Regulations Appraisal, and that protected species such as red squirrels and badgers must not be disturbed. It points to local authority controls such as tree preservation orders and to plant health controls on moving timber, and says all applications must meet the UK Forestry Standard.
Woodland grants the same offices list
England's Woodland Creation Offer page says it offers up to £10,200 per hectare to create woodland, up to £12,700 more in additional payments for community, nature recovery or environmental benefits, a yearly maintenance payment of £400 per hectare, paid for 15 years, and £1,100 per hectare extra for proposals wholly on low sensitivity land. It says applications can be made at any time and take between 3 and 5 months to process once complete, and that planting and management must follow the UK Forestry Standard.
The Irish Department's grants page lists the Forestry Programme 2023-2027. Its listed schemes include the Afforestation Scheme, the Native Tree Area Scheme, an annual premium for existing forest owners applied for online, a Reconstitution Ash Dieback Scheme and an Innovative Forest Technology Scheme with modules on central tyre inflation, tree nurseries, sustainable forest harvesting machinery and temporary forest access. In Scotland, the Scottish Forestry page says long term forest plans are supported under the Forestry Grant Scheme and that, for woodlands under 100 hectares, only plans for Woodlands In and Around Towns are grant-funded.
Sources
- Forestry Commission on GOV.UK, When a felling licence is needed, published July 8, 2026, read October 9, 2026
- Forestry Commission on GOV.UK, How the England Woodland Creation Offer works, read October 9, 2026
- Scottish Forestry, How to apply to fell trees, read October 9, 2026
- Natural Resources Wales, Check if you need a felling licence, read October 9, 2026
- DAERA Northern Ireland, Felling licences, read October 9, 2026
- Department of Agriculture, Food and the Marine (Ireland), Tree felling licences, last updated October 7, 2026, read October 9, 2026
- Department of Agriculture, Food and the Marine (Ireland), Forestry grants and schemes, read October 9, 2026