Applying for consent to fell a tree under a TPO
TPO consent applications are free and decided in eight weeks. Here is what the council needs, which reasons work, and what happens if consent is refused.
A TPO consent application is free, goes to your local council, and has to be decided within eight weeks. You describe the tree, describe the work you want to do, give your reasons with evidence, and wait. If the council refuses, or grants consent with conditions you cannot live with, there is an appeal to the Secretary of State, and the deadline for that appeal is short.
The part people get wrong is the reasons. A Tree Preservation Order exists because the council decided the tree makes a contribution worth protecting, so "it is too big" and "it drops leaves on the car" will not carry an application to fell. Evidence of damage, disease or a real conflict will.
What consent covers and what it does not
Consent authorises the specific works described in the application, on the specific trees identified. It is not general permission to tidy the garden. If you apply to reduce a crown and then fell the tree, you have committed an offence even though you held a consent.
Consent normally lapses if the work is not carried out within two years, so check the date on the notice before you book a contractor a season later.
Some work needs no consent at all. The main exemptions under the Town and Country Planning (Tree Preservation) (England) Regulations 2012 are:
- A tree that is dead, where you must give the council five working days notice before the work unless there is an immediate risk.
- Removing what is dangerous, limited to the work needed to remove the immediate risk of serious harm.
- Work to prevent or abate a nuisance in the legal sense, which is narrower than everyday use of the word.
- Fruit trees cultivated for fruit production, where the work is in the interests of that production.
- Work required to implement a full planning permission, which is why tree details matter at application stage.
Relying on an exemption is a decision you have to be able to defend afterwards, with photographs and ideally an arboriculturist's note made at the time. The burden falls on you, and "it looked dangerous" is a weak position two years later.
Trees in a conservation area that are not covered by an Order follow a different route: a section 211 notice giving the council six weeks to decide whether to make an Order, rather than a consent application.
What the application has to contain
There is no fee, and most councils take the application through the Planning Portal or their own form. The content matters more than the format.
- Identify the tree precisely: species, approximate height and stem diameter, position marked on a plan, and the reference letter or number from the Order schedule if you can find it.
- Describe the work in the vocabulary of BS 3998, the British Standard on tree work, so crown reduction, crown thinning, crown lifting, deadwood removal or felling, with the extent stated in metres rather than as a percentage of "the tree".
- Give the reasons, one per tree, and attach the evidence that supports them.
- Say what you propose to do afterwards, including any replacement planting you are offering.
- Include photographs, taken from a distance that shows the whole tree and close up on any defect.
Reasons that succeed tend to be supported by something outside your own opinion. A report from an arboriculturist naming the pathogen, a structural engineer's report and monitoring data where subsidence is alleged, or an obvious physical conflict shown in a photograph. Where the claim is subsidence, the evidence bar is high and specific, and we set out what councils look for in tree and subsidence claims: the evidence a council needs.
Choosing between felling, reduction and thinning
Ask for the least drastic option that solves your problem, because a council that refuses felling will often grant a reduction, and an application that offers only one outcome invites a refusal.
| What you want | Usually asked for as |
|---|---|
| Less shade on the garden in summer | Crown thinning, or a reduction on the shading side |
| Light to a specific window | Crown lifting, or targeted reduction of the offending limbs |
| Branches over the roof or gutter | Crown lifting or selective pruning back to a growth point |
| A structurally unsound tree | Felling with evidence of the defect |
| Diseased tree with confirmed pathogen | Felling with the diagnosis attached |
Repeated heavy reduction is worse for a tree than a single well judged one, and a tree officer who sees an application for a 50 per cent reduction will often counter with a lower figure specified as a branch length. Accept it if the effect is close enough, because the alternative is an appeal that takes months.
One thing worth doing before you apply is reading the tree's own condition properly. A Tree Survey prepared to BS 5837 gives a category for each tree and a schedule of its condition, and a tree in decline reads very differently in that format than in a letter. Our note on reading a BS 5837 tree schedule column by column explains what each column means.
The eight week clock and what happens in it
The council has eight weeks from a valid application to decide. Inside that period the tree officer will usually visit, and may knock on your door, and may ring you to discuss an alternative. Take that call, because most TPO applications are settled by negotiation rather than by a formal refusal.
If the eight weeks passes with no decision, you have a right of appeal on non-determination. In practice a polite chase at week six is more productive than an appeal at week nine.
Councils consult in different ways. Some notify neighbours, some do not, and some publish the application on the planning register where anyone can comment. Objections from neighbours who like the tree are common, and they are material where they go to the tree's contribution to the area.
Conditions and replacement planting
Consent to fell is very often granted subject to a condition requiring a replacement tree, and the condition will specify size, species, position and a planting season. Read it carefully: a condition requiring an extra heavy standard of a named species in the same position is a significant cost if you were planning to lay a patio there.
Where a tree is removed under the dead or dangerous exemption, a duty to plant a replacement arises under the Town and Country Planning Act 1990, at the same place and as soon as you reasonably can, unless the council dispenses with it in writing. Ask for that dispensation rather than assuming the duty has lapsed.
Any replacement tree becomes protected by the original Order automatically. That surprises people who assumed the new tree was theirs to remove later.
Refusal, appeal, and the cost of not asking
An appeal against refusal or against a condition goes to the Secretary of State and is handled by the Planning Inspectorate. The time limit is short, set out in the Regulations and repeated on your decision notice, so diarise it the day the notice arrives rather than waiting to see how you feel about it.
Appeals are decided on written representations in almost every case. The Inspector looks at the tree's condition, its contribution to the amenity of the area, and whether the reasons for the work outweigh that contribution. Fresh evidence is allowed, so an arboricultural report you did not commission before the refusal is worth getting now.
Doing the work without consent is an offence under section 210 of the Town and Country Planning Act 1990, and the courts take account of any financial benefit gained. Councils also serve tree replacement notices requiring a new tree to be planted, and those notices run with the land, so a buyer inherits the problem. Contractors who fell protected trees can be prosecuted alongside the owner, which is why any competent tree surgeon will ask to see the consent before starting.
If a development proposal is what brings you to the tree in the first place, deal with it inside the application rather than separately, because works needed to implement a permission are treated differently from standalone consent. Browse the PlanScope report index to see which tree and landscape reports a project on a wooded site is likely to need.
PlanScope provides AI-assisted draft reports for planning applications. Reports should be reviewed before submission. We do not guarantee planning approval. Tree work on a protected tree carries criminal liability, so this is general guidance rather than legal advice: check the position with your council's tree officer or a qualified arboriculturist before any work starts.
Frequently asked questions
Is there a fee for a TPO consent application?
No. Applications for consent to carry out work to a tree protected by a Tree Preservation Order carry no fee, whether you apply through the Planning Portal or on the council's own form. The council has eight weeks to decide, and you have a right of appeal if it does not decide within that period.
Do I need consent to remove a dead tree?
Consent is not required for a tree that is dead, but you must give the council five working days notice before the work unless there is an immediate risk of serious harm. Keep photographs and, ideally, a note from an arboriculturist made at the time, because the burden of proving the exemption falls on you afterwards.
What reasons persuade a council to allow felling?
Evidence of structural defect, a diagnosed disease, or a genuine physical conflict that cannot be solved by pruning. Shade, leaf fall, bird droppings and blocked light alone rarely succeed, because the Order exists precisely because the tree contributes to the area. Attach an arboricultural report, monitoring data or photographs that show the defect.
Will I have to plant a replacement tree?
Often yes. Consent to fell is commonly granted subject to a condition specifying the size, species, position and planting season of a replacement. Where a tree is removed under the dead or dangerous exemption, a statutory duty to replant arises unless the council dispenses with it in writing. Any replacement is protected by the original Order.
What happens if work is done without consent?
Cutting down, uprooting or wilfully damaging a protected tree is an offence under section 210 of the Town and Country Planning Act 1990, and the court takes account of any financial benefit gained. The council can also serve a tree replacement notice, which runs with the land, so a future owner inherits the obligation.
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.