Tree rules in Hounslow: preservation orders and conservation areas
What the London Borough of Hounslow's own pages say about tree preservation orders, section 211 notices in conservation areas, fines up to £20,000, replacement planting, the council's street tree inspections and its oak processionary moth control.
Checked against the sources at the bottom of this page on October 8, 2026. Rules, fees and pay change: the source has the last word.
This page reports what the official source says. It is not legal advice: ask the office named here. It describes the London Borough of Hounslow pages on trees, on reporting tree problems and maintenance, on protected trees and tree preservation orders, and on planting, as read on October 8, 2026. The national rules are on the guide to checking tree rules with UK councils. This page covers only what Hounslow's pages state.
How trees are protected
Hounslow's page says protection may apply through a tree preservation order (TPO) or because the tree stands in a conservation area. A TPO protects individual trees, groups or woodlands of significant public amenity value, and the page says permission is needed before cutting down or felling, pruning or trimming branches, topping or lopping, or root pruning a protected tree. At the time of reading the page showed its catalogue of TPOs as unavailable because of an update, and directed TPO queries to the planning team.
For a tree in a conservation area that is not covered by a TPO, the page says six weeks written notice must be given, called a Section 211 notice. During the six weeks the council considers the work and, if it objects, may place a TPO on the tree. If no response comes within six weeks, the work may go ahead as described in the notice. Many conservation area trees are also under a TPO, and for those the page says a TPO application is needed for any work including felling, pruning or root pruning.
Offences, fines and replacement
| Item | What the page says |
|---|---|
| Offence | Work on a protected tree without permission is a criminal offence |
| Fines | Up to £20,000 for destroying a protected tree and up to £2,500 for unauthorised work that does not destroy it. If destruction benefits a development proposal, fines may be unlimited and are set by the court |
| Replanting | A replacement tree is required if a protected tree is cut down or destroyed, if permission to remove it carried a replacement condition, if it was felled in breach of a TPO, or if it was removed as dead, dying or dangerous without at least five days notice to the council |
| Checking permission | The page says the written permission from the council can be had from the landowner or contractor, and that planning history is on the council's Earthlight online map. It says possible unauthorised work can be reported to the planning enforcement team |
Council trees
The maintenance page says trees are managed on the council's behalf by partners. One partner maintains trees in parks, open spaces, cemeteries and allotments. The other manages nearly 11,400 street trees and inspects around a third of the borough's street trees each year on a rotation. The page says trees are removed only when necessary, for example if dead, dying or dangerous, and that the council aims to replace them in its winter planting programme, though not always in the same place. It describes oak processionary moth control: caterpillars usually emerge in April, the most effective control is insecticide treatment during spring and summer, and nests may be removed with specialist vacuum equipment when the caterpillars rest or pupate. The overview page says around 40 percent of the borough is parks and open spaces. The planting page says there is no tree planting schedule and that the Free Trees for Hounslow project, which gave away over 2,000 trees over three winter seasons from 2021, has ended.
Sources
- London Borough of Hounslow, Protected trees and tree preservation orders (TPOs), read October 8, 2026
- London Borough of Hounslow, Report a tree problem and tree maintenance, read October 8, 2026
- London Borough of Hounslow, Planting and other tree projects, read October 8, 2026
- London Borough of Hounslow, Trees overview, read October 8, 2026