There are laws in the UK around hedges and you may be able to seek help if your neighbour’s hedge is blocking off light
We all hope to maintain positive relationships with our neighbours, but disputes can arise – and hedges frequently become a point of conflict. When a neighbour’s hedge becomes excessively tall, it can plunge your garden or property into shade, or obstruct your view.
Government legislation actually includes specific measures tackling the problem of overgrown hedges. The Anti-Social Behaviour Act 2003 gives local authorities the power to deal with complaints – so your council may be able to help you.
Official guidance on the gov.uk website features no fewer than 30 questions surrounding this issue – and other documents stretch to dozens of pages. The questions address everything from when complaints can be submitted and what can be complained about, to the necessary height of a hedge, its position and how to measure it.
Gov.uk states: “When councils are determining a complaint they must first decide whether the height of the high hedge is having an adverse effect on a neighbour’s enjoyment of their home and/or its garden or yard. If it is, then councils can order the owner of a high hedge to take action to put right the problem and stop it from happening again.
“The legislation also allows councils to set and charge fees for handling these complaints.” The government advises that if you’re troubled by a neighbour’s hedge, the most practical solution is to raise the matter with them directly. Bringing in the council or pursuing legal action, particularly without first approaching your neighbour, risks making the situation considerably worse, officials say.
Attempting to settle disputes amicably is the officially recommended course of action. After all, you’ll need to continue living side by side, so the advice is that maintaining a good relationship is clearly in everyone’s interest.
The council may decline to look into your complaint if they feel you haven’t made every reasonable attempt to sort things out without their intervention. However, your local authority is likely to consider your grievance provided certain criteria are met.
What types of hedge complaint can your council look into?
The hedge must obstruct light or access, be predominantly evergreen or semi-evergreen, stand at more than two metres in height from ground level, and make up a row of at least two trees or shrubs. It must also be located on land owned or occupied by another party. Furthermore, it must “harm the reasonable enjoyment of a home you own or occupy and/or its garden or yard”.
To submit a complaint, you must be either the owner or occupier of the affected property. If the hedge causing you concern satisfies the criteria, your local council should be able to consider your complaint.
However, one element the legislation doesn’t cover is hedge roots. The council won’t deal with complaints made under this law concerning matters such as root-related damage to property, including subsidence or roots removing moisture and nutrients from the soil. In addition, Above All Tree Care suggests that when disputes arise, you should keep detailed records of attempted communication, photographic evidence showing the hedge’s impact, and documentation of any informal arrangements.
Evergreen Hedging also states on its website that it’s recommended to attempt to resolve matters with your neighbour before lodging a formal complaint – even by getting in someone else. The website advises: “If this is not possible or you cannot agree on what to do about the hedge, then you should consider mediation. This means asking an independent person to help you understand each other’s point of view.” It notes this service is usually offered free of charge.
What happens if the council rules my neighbour’s hedge is too tall?
Should the council determine intervention is necessary, it has the authority to issue a ‘remedial notice’ requiring your neighbour to cut the hedge to a height that will address the problems and stop them from happening again. However, 2 metres will only be suitable in certain circumstances. The council can also order your neighbour to take steps to prevent future difficulties with the hedge.
They cannot, however, demand the complete removal or destruction of the hedge. Furthermore, a neighbour may be given weeks or even months to comply with the notice.
According to the government document, “high hedges complaints: prevention and cure”, failing to comply with the requirements of a remedial notice constitutes an offence punishable, upon conviction in the magistrates’ court, by a fine of up to £1,000.
The court may then – either alongside or instead of a fine – issue an order requiring the offender to complete the necessary work within a specified timeframe. Non-compliance with the court order would constitute a further offence, subject to a similar fine. From this stage, the court would also have the authority to impose a daily penalty for each day the work remains incomplete.
Nevertheless, don’t take the law into your own hands. Should you trim your neighbour’s hedge yourself, they could take legal action against you for causing damage to their property.
According to Above All Tree Care, homeowners have a legal right to plant and maintain hedges along boundary lines. However, they stress that this right must be balanced against neighbours’ entitlement to the reasonable enjoyment of their own property.
Outlining the laws concerning tall hedges, they sum it up by saying: “The 2 metre hedge rule represents a practical threshold for addressing hedge disputes whilst respecting property owners’ rights to maintain boundary vegetation. Success in resolving hedge conflicts typically depends on early communication, reasonable compromise, and understanding that local authority intervention should be a last resort after exhausting informal resolution methods.”
