Neighbour tree law in England and Wales: high hedges

This page reports what the official source says. It is not legal advice: ask the office named here. It describes the high hedge law that applies in England and Wales, as read on October 8, 2026 on legislation.gov.uk, GOV.UK and GOV.WALES.

Contains public sector information licensed under the Open Government Licence v3.0. The wording below restates the Act and the guide, and a short phrase in quotation marks is the source's own.

What Part 8 covers

Part 8 of the Act is headed "High hedges". Each section is marked as applying to England and Wales. Section 65(1) says it applies to a complaint made by an owner or occupier of a domestic property who says the height of a high hedge on land owned or occupied by another person is adversely affecting reasonable enjoyment of that property. Section 65(2) adds a complaint from the owner of an unoccupied property about the effect on a prospective occupier. Section 65(4) says the Part does not apply to complaints about the effect of the roots of a high hedge.

Section 66 defines a high hedge as so much of a barrier to light or access as is formed wholly or predominantly by a line of two or more evergreens and rises to a height of more than two metres above ground level. Evergreen includes a semi-evergreen tree or shrub. A line of evergreens is not a barrier if gaps significantly affect its overall effect as a barrier at heights of more than two metres. Section 67 defines a domestic property as a dwelling, or a garden or yard used and enjoyed wholly or mainly with a dwelling.

What the council does

Section 68 sets the procedure for a complaint made to the council for the area where the hedge stands. The complaint comes with a fee that the council determines. The council may decide a complaint should not go ahead if it considers the complainant has not taken all reasonable steps to resolve the matter without a complaint, or that the complaint is frivolous or vexatious. Otherwise the council must decide whether the height of the hedge is adversely affecting the complainant's reasonable enjoyment of the property and, if so, what action should be taken under a remedial notice. Section 68(7) says the fee must not exceed the amount set in regulations, made by the Secretary of State for hedges in England and by the National Assembly for Wales for hedges in Wales. Section 68(8) says a council may refund a fee in the circumstances and to the extent it decides.

The GOV.WALES page on high hedges says the maximum fee that can be applied in Wales is £320 and that it is for each planning authority to decide whether to charge and how much, within that maximum. It says the authority's role is to adjudicate, not to mediate or negotiate, and that it must strike a balance between the complainant, the hedge owner and the wider community. The GOV.UK guide says a council may offer reduced fees to people on a low income or benefits, and that a fee is not usually refunded when a complaint succeeds, though a council may decide to refund all or part of it. It says the council cannot order the neighbour to repay the fee.

The remedial notice and its limits

Section 69 describes the remedial notice. It states the initial action to be taken before the end of the compliance period and any preventative action afterwards. Section 69(3) says the action specified is not to require or involve a reduction in the height of the hedge to less than two metres above ground level, or the removal of the hedge. The notice takes effect on an operative date at least 28 days after it is issued, and while it has effect it is a local land charge and binds every later owner or occupier of the land. The GOV.UK guide says the Act sets no specific height, that two metres will be the right height only in some cases, and that the notice may require the hedge to be kept at its new height.

Section 70 lets the council withdraw a notice or relax a requirement. Section 71 lets the complainant and every owner or occupier of the hedge land appeal, and lets the complainant appeal a decision made against them. An appeal goes in within 28 days, or a later time the appeal authority allows, and the notice has no effect while an appeal is pending. For hedges in England the appeal authority is the Secretary of State, and for hedges in Wales it is the National Assembly for Wales; the GOV.UK guide says the appeal goes to the Planning Inspectorate, and GOV.WALES says it goes to the Welsh Ministers.

Offences and council action

Section 75 says that where a remedial notice requires action and the action is not taken within the compliance period, every person who is an owner or occupier of the hedge land at a relevant time commits an offence. The penalty on summary conviction is a fine not exceeding level 3 on the standard scale, which the GOV.UK guide puts at up to £1,000. Section 77 lets a person authorised by the council enter the land and take the required action, and the section also makes wilful obstruction of that person an offence.

What the government guides say about trees and branches

The GOV.UK guide, "High hedges: complaining to the council", calls itself "a simple guide and not a statement of the law". It says a single tree or shrub cannot be the subject of a complaint, and that a hedge containing protected trees can be, assessed in the same way as an application for work on trees covered by a Tree Preservation Order or a conservation area notice. It says the hedge height is measured from ground level, and that where a hedge sits on a bank or raised bed the measurement is taken from the natural ground level. On branches it says that doing anything more than trimming overhanging branches could lead the neighbour to take the person to court for damaging their property, and that for a hedge with protected trees separate permission from the council might be needed even for that trimming.

Protected trees are covered in the guide on tree protection orders, bylaws and permits, and the full list of places is on the neighbour tree law overview. For Scotland and Northern Ireland, which have their own Acts, see the pages for those places.