Felling licences and the exemptions that apply
Five cubic metres a quarter, gardens, small diameters and felling needed to implement a planning permission. The exemptions do most of the work, and getting them wrong is an offence.
A felling licence from the Forestry Commission is needed before felling growing trees in England, unless one of the exemptions in the Forestry Act 1967 applies. The exemption most landowners rely on is the volume allowance: up to five cubic metres in any calendar quarter, of which no more than two cubic metres may be sold. Beyond that, a licence is required and felling without one is a criminal offence.
This regime is separate from Tree Preservation Orders and from conservation area controls. A tree can sit inside all three, and clearing it lawfully means dealing with each.
When a licence is required
The starting point is broad. Felling growing trees requires a licence, and the regime applies to woodland, hedgerow trees above the size thresholds, and individual trees outside the exempt categories.
The exemptions then cut it back. The ones that matter in practice:
- Trees in a garden, orchard, churchyard or designated public open space
- Trees below the diameter thresholds, measured 1.3 metres from the ground
- Up to five cubic metres felled in a calendar quarter, with a two cubic metre limit on sales
- Felling immediately required to carry out development authorised by a planning permission
- Dangerous trees, or trees causing a nuisance, in defined circumstances
- Fruit trees, and trees being felled under a statutory obligation
Diameter thresholds do a lot of quiet work on scrubby sites. A tree of 8 centimetres diameter or less is exempt, with a 10 centimetre threshold for thinnings and 15 centimetres for coppice and underwood. Measure at 1.3 metres above ground level, and record the measurements before the chainsaw starts rather than afterwards.
The volume exemption and how it is counted
Five cubic metres is less timber than it sounds. A mature oak can exceed it on its own, and the allowance covers everything felled in the quarter rather than each individual tree.
The allowance runs per calendar quarter and cannot be carried forward. Splitting a fell across the end of March to use two quarters is legitimate if the volumes really do fall either side of the date, and it is the kind of arrangement that attracts scrutiny when the stumps all look the same age.
Keep a written record: date, species, diameter, estimated volume, and whether any timber was sold. If a question arises, the person who felled the trees has to show that an exemption applied. Nobody has ever regretted keeping that note.
Gardens, orchards and the boundary of the exemption
The garden exemption depends on what the land actually is, not on what the title plan says. A paddock beyond the lawn is not a garden. A domestic curtilage that has been extended over former woodland is arguable in either direction, and the Forestry Commission looks at the physical character and use of the land.
Orchards are exempt where the trees are grown for fruit production. A former orchard that has reverted to scrub is a different question again.
None of these exemptions touch the planning controls. A garden tree can carry a Tree Preservation Order, and in a conservation area six weeks' written notice to the council is required before work on most trees above 75 millimetres in diameter. The consequences of getting that wrong are set out in penalties for damaging a protected tree.
How the felling licence and TPO regimes interact
The two systems are designed to avoid duplication rather than to stack on top of each other.
Where a felling licence is granted, separate consent under a Tree Preservation Order is generally not needed for the felling that the licence authorises, and the Forestry Commission consults the local planning authority before making its decision. Where felling falls within a licensing exemption, the TPO or conservation area control applies in the ordinary way and you deal with the council.
The practical consequence is that you have to establish which regime bites before choosing which application to make. Getting the sequence wrong usually costs a season. For a woodland with a TPO over part of it and a development proposal on the edge, expect to deal with both bodies, and expect them to ask different questions about the same trees.
Applying, and how long it takes
Applications are made to the Forestry Commission and are placed on a public register, with statutory consultation and an opportunity for others to comment.
Allow months rather than weeks. Where the proposal involves deforestation above the relevant thresholds, a separate environmental assessment procedure for forestry projects may apply, which extends the timetable further. Where protected species or designated sites are involved, Natural England's position has to be resolved before a decision.
The application is stronger with a management plan behind it. A tree survey for the trees affected, an explanation of the silvicultural purpose, and a clear restocking proposal will move a straightforward case along. Where the felling supports a development scheme, tie it to the Landscape Strategy so that the planting proposed on the planning side matches what the licence conditions will require.
Restocking conditions and what they commit you to
Most felling licences are granted with restocking conditions. They set the area to be restocked, the species mix, the stocking density and a maintenance period, commonly ten years, during which failures have to be replaced.
Three points are worth knowing before signing up to them.
- The obligation attaches to the land, so a sale does not end it. Buyers of recently felled woodland should check what conditions are outstanding.
- Deer and rabbit pressure defeats more restocking schemes than any other single factor, and protection has to be budgeted from the start.
- Failure to comply can result in a restocking notice, which is enforceable and does not go away when the timber money has been spent.
An illustrative example. A farm woodland of 2 hectares was clear felled under licence to remove diseased ash, with restocking to a mixed broadleaf specification and ten years of maintenance. The cost of tubes, stakes and three years of weeding exceeded the value of the timber removed. That is normal, and it should be in the budget at application stage rather than discovered in year two.
Penalties and enforcement
Felling without a licence where one was required is an offence, prosecuted by the Forestry Commission, and it carries a fine. A restocking notice can follow, requiring replanting and maintenance at the owner's cost.
Where the trees were also protected by a Tree Preservation Order or stood in a conservation area, the local planning authority can pursue its own enforcement, so one afternoon's work can produce two separate cases. Contractors are not a shield, since the person who fells and the person who causes or permits the felling can both be liable.
And felling ahead of an application, hoping to remove a constraint, tends to make the planning position worse rather than better, which is the point covered in clearing land before an application.
This is general guidance, not legal advice; check the position with your local planning authority, the Forestry Commission or a qualified professional before relying on it.
To see which tree and landscape documents a rural site is likely to need for a planning application, check a site on PlanScope using its postcode.
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Frequently asked questions
How much timber can I fell without a licence?
Up to five cubic metres in any calendar quarter, of which no more than two cubic metres may be sold. The allowance is per person per quarter, not per woodland, and it cannot be banked or borrowed between quarters. Keep a record of volumes felled, because the burden of showing that an exemption applied falls on the person who felled the trees.
Are garden trees covered by the felling licence rules?
No. Trees growing in a garden, an orchard, a churchyard or a designated public open space are outside the licensing regime entirely. That exemption says nothing about Tree Preservation Orders or conservation area controls, which apply to garden trees and are administered by the local planning authority rather than by the Forestry Commission.
Do I need a licence to fell trees to build something I have permission for?
Not where the felling is immediately required to carry out development authorised by a planning permission that has been granted. The exemption is narrower than it sounds. It covers trees that physically stand in the way of the permitted works, not general clearance of a site that happens to have permission on part of it.
What does a restocking condition require?
A licence to fell is usually granted with conditions requiring the area to be restocked with a stated species mix and stocking density, and then maintained for a period, commonly ten years. The obligation runs with the land, so a buyer takes it on. Check the land register and the Forestry Commission records before purchasing recently felled woodland.
What happens if trees are felled without a licence?
Felling without a licence when one was required is a criminal offence and can result in a fine. The Forestry Commission can also serve a restocking notice requiring the land to be replanted and maintained at the owner's expense. Where the trees were also protected by a Tree Preservation Order, the local planning authority can take separate enforcement action.
Sources and further reading
This article is general guidance about the planning system in England and, where stated, the rest of the UK. It is not legal or professional advice. Check your local planning authority’s validation requirements and take professional advice for your specific site.