Hedges, trees and permitted development on a boundary
You can plant a hedge to any height without permission. Fences are capped at one or two metres, evergreen hedges over two metres fall under the high hedges regime, and protected trees need consent.
Planting a hedge or a tree is not development, so boundary planting permitted development is a question with a short answer and a long footnote. You can plant what you like, at any height, without planning permission. What you cannot do is grow an evergreen hedge over two metres that blocks your neighbour's light, because that falls under a separate complaints regime, and you cannot cut down a protected tree without consent.
The confusion comes from the fences. A fence has permitted development limits. A hedge does not.
Planting is outside planning control
Section 55 of the Town and Country Planning Act 1990 defines development as building, engineering, mining or other operations, or a material change of use. Putting a plant in the ground is none of those. There is no height limit, no application, no fee.
Two qualifications worth knowing. A planning condition on a permission can require specific planting to be provided and retained, which makes removal a breach of condition. And agricultural hedgerow removal is controlled separately, as is any work to a tree with a Tree Preservation Order.
That is the whole of the planning position on planting. The rest of the rules on a boundary belong to other regimes entirely.
The high hedges complaint procedure
Part 8 of the Anti-social Behaviour Act 2003 gives councils a role in domestic high hedge disputes. It applies to a hedge that is a barrier to light or access, formed wholly or predominantly by a line of two or more evergreens or semi-evergreens, and more than two metres above ground level.
The limits matter:
- a single tree is not a hedge, however large
- a deciduous hedge is outside the regime, including beech and hornbeam when they hold dead leaves
- the complaint concerns light and access, not roots, falling leaves, or the view
- the complainant must be the owner or occupier of domestic property affected by the hedge
The procedure is also a last resort. A council will not accept a complaint until the complainant shows they have tried to settle it with the hedge owner, and most councils charge a fee for the complaint, which they set themselves.
Where the complaint succeeds, the council issues a remedial notice requiring work to reduce the hedge and to keep it at a stated height. It cannot require removal of the hedge, and it cannot require a reduction below two metres. Both parties can appeal to the Secretary of State.
Trees protected by Order or by conservation area status
A Tree Preservation Order makes it an offence to cut down, top, lop, uproot or wilfully damage or destroy the tree without the council's written consent. The Town and Country Planning (Tree Preservation) (England) Regulations 2012 govern applications and appeals.
In a conservation area, trees above a diameter threshold are protected whether or not an Order exists, and the procedure is a section 211 notice: you tell the council what you intend to do and wait six weeks. The council can make an Order in that period, or it can let the notice run and the work becomes lawful.
Three practical points. Check for an Order before you prune, not after, because the council's register is the only reliable source and verbal assurances from a previous owner are worth nothing. Exemptions exist for dead trees and for work that is urgently necessary to remove an immediate risk of serious harm, and the burden of proving the exemption falls on you. And a tree can be protected by a condition on a planning permission even where no Order exists.
Our note on the 50 per cent curtilage rule for garden outbuildings is worth reading where a new building is proposed near protected trees, because the root protection area usually constrains the position more than the curtilage calculation does.
Fences, walls and the Part 2 limits
Here is where the real permitted development limits sit. Class A of Part 2 of the General Permitted Development Order allows a gate, fence, wall or other means of enclosure, subject to limits:
| Situation | Maximum height without permission |
|---|---|
| Adjacent to a highway used by vehicular traffic | 1 metre |
| Elsewhere within the curtilage | 2 metres |
| Adjacent to a listed building or within its curtilage | No right, consent needed |
The right is also removed where a condition on a planning permission takes it away, and it is restricted on article 2(3) land in some respects. Trellis on top of a fence counts towards the height. A fence erected to a lawful height and then raised by adding panels is a breach once it exceeds the limit.
A hedge planted behind a one metre fence to the same effect is lawful. That asymmetry annoys people, and it is simply how the two regimes are written.
Hedgerow removal on a field boundary
Agricultural and countryside hedgerows are protected by the Hedgerows Regulations 1997 rather than by planning control. If a hedgerow is at least 20 metres long, or meets another length and connection test, and is on or adjoining agricultural land, common land, a nature reserve or certain other land, you must notify the council before removing it.
The council then decides whether the hedgerow is important under the criteria in the Regulations, which cover archaeology, wildlife and landscape history. An important hedgerow cannot lawfully be removed without consent, and removal carries a fine.
This catches site developers who clear a boundary to form an access before applying. Where a hedgerow is to be removed as part of a development, deal with it in the application, and note that the hedgerow forms part of the baseline for a Biodiversity Net Gain Assessment under the Environment Act 2021 regime, which expects the statutory metric to be completed by a competent person and the biodiversity gain plan to be approved by the council.
Where a condition requires planting to be retained
Landscaping conditions are common on new housing and on extensions near boundaries. They typically require a scheme to be implemented in the first planting season and any plant that dies within five years to be replaced.
Those conditions bind successors in title. A buyer who removes a hedge planted under a condition commits a breach of condition, and the council can serve a breach of condition notice, against which there is no appeal. Check the planning history of a property before taking out boundary planting, particularly on an estate built in the last fifteen years.
Steps in a boundary dispute
A practical order of work when a neighbour's planting is the problem.
- Establish what the planting is: evergreen or deciduous, a line of two or more plants, and its height.
- Check the council's register for a Tree Preservation Order and whether the property is in a conservation area.
- Write to the neighbour setting out the effect on light to specific rooms, with dates and photographs.
- Where that fails and the hedge meets the statutory description, make a high hedges complaint and pay the council's fee.
- Where the issue is a single large tree, the high hedges route is closed and the remedy is civil, which usually means advice on nuisance or on rights to light.
Rights to light are a private law matter quite separate from planning daylight assessment, and the two are regularly confused. A Daylight and Sunlight Assessment informs a planning decision about a proposed building. It has no bearing on a hedge.
This is general guidance, not legal advice; check the position with your local planning authority or a qualified professional before relying on it.
A lawful development certificate is the only formal way to confirm that works are lawful, so where a boundary structure's status is contested, that is the route to certainty.
Frequently asked questions
Is there a height limit on a hedge?
Not in planning terms, because planting is not development. A separate regime under Part 8 of the Anti-social Behaviour Act 2003 lets a neighbour complain to the council about a line of two or more evergreens over two metres that blocks light or access to their domestic property. The council can require a reduction, but not below two metres.
Does the high hedges regime cover a single tree?
No. It applies only to a hedge formed wholly or predominantly by a line of two or more evergreen or semi-evergreen plants over two metres. A single large tree, however overbearing, is outside it, and so is a deciduous hedge. The remedy in those cases is a civil one rather than a complaint to the council.
How high can I build a fence without permission?
Generally two metres within the curtilage, reducing to one metre where the fence is adjacent to a highway used by vehicular traffic. Trellis counts towards the height. The right is removed next to a listed building or within its curtilage, and a condition on a planning permission can remove it altogether.
Do I need consent to cut back a protected tree?
Yes. Where a Tree Preservation Order applies you need the council's written consent before cutting down, topping, lopping or uprooting. In a conservation area, trees above the diameter threshold require six weeks notice to the council instead. Exemptions exist for dead trees and urgent safety work, and the burden of proving one is yours.
Can I remove a hedgerow on a field boundary?
Not without notifying the council first. The Hedgerows Regulations 1997 require notification for hedgerows of at least 20 metres, or shorter ones meeting the connection test, on or adjoining agricultural and certain other land. The council decides whether the hedgerow is important, and removing an important hedgerow without consent carries a fine.
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.