Communities and Local Government

• Planning, building and the environment
• Planning
• Trees and High Hedges
• High hedges
• FAQs on high hedges
• Hedge owner's perspective

Planning, building and the environment

Hedge owner's perspective

My neighbour has approached me and told me that I must cut my hedge down to 2 metres or he will have an ASBO put on me. Is this right?
No - on two counts. The legislation does not require all hedges to be reduced to 2 metres in height. Nor can Councils service an ASBO (Anti-social Behaviour Order) on someone for having a high hedge.

The law enables people, who have tried and exhausted all other avenues for resolving their hedge dispute, to take their complaint about a neighbour's evergreen hedge to their local Council. For the complaint to be successful, they need to show that the hedge is adversely affecting the reasonable enjoyment of their property.

My neighbour has asked me to reduce the size of my hedge. I am willing to do some works to it but is there any guidance to help me establish what would be a reasonable hedge height?
This is difficult because there is no single right answer. It's a question of trying to find what suits both you and your neighbour. As suggested in the leaflet Over the garden hedge, it's best to look at all the options rather than discuss just one possible solution.

The leaflet also has some useful information to help you find the right answer. For example, it tells you how high a hedge needs to be to prevent you being overlooked. It also refers to calculations you can do to find out what height the hedge should be if it's not to block too much daylight and sunlight. The relevant booklet Hedge height and light loss is available on this website. So too is an Excel spreadsheet which does the calculations for you.

If my neighbour makes a formal complaint to the Council about my hedge, what involvement will I have in the process?
The Council will write to you to let you know that they have received a formal complaint about your hedge. They might ask you to provide certain factual information, such as whether you own the property as well as occupy it and whether there are any legal restrictions that apply to the property (eg a tree preservation order). The Council will also ask you for your comments on the points made in the complaint and to provide any further information that you want the Council to take into account.

In framing your comments, it is best to keep to the facts and explain how the hedge contributes to your enjoyment of your property and what the effect would be if its height had to be reduced. Bear in mind that a copy of your comments will be sent to the complainant.

The Council will also want to arrange a visit to your property so that they can see the hedge and its surroundings for themselves. In making their decision, the Council must take account of all relevant factors and must strike a balance between the competing interests of the complainant and hedge owner, as well as the interests of the wider community.

If they uphold the complaint, they may issue you with a remedial notice which will set out what you must do to the hedge to remedy the problem, and when by.

I offered to reduce the hedge to what I consider a reasonable height but my neighbour wanted more. They have now made a formal complaint to the Council. Will my offer be taken into account by the Council in deciding the complaint?
It is not the role of the Council to negotiate or arbitrate between individuals. Acting as an independent and impartial third party, they will adjudicate on whether the hedge is adversely affecting the reasonable enjoyment of the complainant's property. So any offers that you made earlier are not directly relevant to what they have to decide, which is about the impact of the hedge.

Negotiations between you and your neighbour do not have to stop just because a formal complaint has been made. It's worth continuing to talk to one another. If you agree a solution, the complaint can be withdrawn.

The hedge was there before the complainant's property was built [or before they moved into it]. Will the Council take this into account?
No, the history of the hedge or of the site where it is located is not relevant to the question that the Council have to decide - which is about the impact of the hedge on the complainant's reasonable enjoyment of their property.