High hedge calculator

No statute in the UK fixes how far from a boundary a tree or hedge may be planted, or how tall it may grow. Neighbours rely on three other sets of rules instead. A complaint about a hedge over 2 m that blocks light can go to the local council. The council may order a cut, but never below 2 m (Anti-social Behaviour Act 2003, Part 8). It starts from the action hedge height, worked out with the government's Hedge height and light loss method. Branches and roots crossing the boundary may be cut back to it by the neighbour they reach (GOV.UK). Before a tree is cut or felled, a Tree Preservation Order or a conservation area can require the council's consent or six weeks' notice.

A line of two or more evergreen or semi-evergreen plants rising over 2 m above ground and forming a barrier to light or access (Anti-social Behaviour Act 2003, s.66). A single tree never counts.

Semi-evergreen plants keep some live leaves in winter, so GOV.UK excludes beech or hornbeam holding only dead ones. Leylandii is the best known case, though the Act names no species. Height is measured from ground level at the base of the trunks, and roots fall outside the procedure.

An action hedge height is the height above which the Hedge height and light loss guidance treats a hedge as taking too much light. Councils in England and Wales start from it, though it is not mandatory, and many link its spreadsheet as a high hedge calculator.

1. Effective depth: a rectangular garden's depth, or for other shapes its area divided by the hedge's effective length.
2. Orientation factor: the depth times the Table 1 factor for the direction faced towards the hedge, from 0.25 (south and south west) to 0.65 (north).
3. Set back: a hedge more than 1 m back from the line adds that distance.
4. Slope: a hedge base higher than the garden a third of the way in takes the difference off.
5. Windows of main rooms: half the distance plus 1 m with the hedge opposite. To one side it is the full distance, and at 45 degrees two thirds of the distance, each plus 1 m.
6. Lowest figure: the lower of the garden and window results counts, raised to 2 m if it falls short.

Main rooms are living rooms, dining rooms, kitchens and bedrooms. A window facing close to due east or west, with the hedge to its south, uses half the distance.

A cut 0.6 m to 1 m below the figure leaves a suitable margin for growth, the guidance says. Gaps in a hedge, passive solar houses and hedges on several sides are left out; checked cases reproduce the guidance's examples.

A rectangular garden 15 m deep with a 6 m Leylandii hedge on its southern side gives 3.75 m. Seen from the garden the hedge lies to the south, so the factor is 0.25. The hedge stands 2.25 m above that, and the growth margin puts a cut between 2.75 m and 3.15 m.

A living room window 8 m from the hedge gives 5 m, so the garden still decides. Planted 2.5 m back from the line, the same hedge would face a limit of 6.25 m and stay within it.

A council can refuse a complaint unless all reasonable steps to settle it have been taken (Anti-social Behaviour Act 2003, s.68).

In England each local council sets its own complaint fee; Wales fixes it at £320. A remedial notice upholding it says how far and by when the hedge must be cut. It cannot order a cut below 2 m or removal, and takes effect at least 28 days after issue.

Appeals run for 28 days, to the Planning Inspectorate in England or the Welsh Ministers in Wales. GOV.UK puts the fine for ignoring a notice at up to £1,000, plus £50 for each further day.

Overhanging branches and roots that cross into a property may be trimmed back to the boundary by its owner or occupier, without the tree owner's consent (GOV.UK). This is the common law right of abatement.

Reaching onto the neighbour's land, even with a ladder, can be trespass, and cut wood stays the tree owner's property. Root damage to walls or drains is a private nuisance claim, and a protected tree needs consent or notice first.

When a Tree Preservation Order covers it. A tree in a conservation area needs notice rather than consent, unless it is exempt (MHCLG planning guidance).

An order forbids cutting down, topping, lopping or uprooting without consent. The council has 8 weeks to decide, and consent lasts 2 years. Dead or dangerous trees take shorter routes, such as five working days' written notice for a dead one.

In those areas a section 211 notice must reach the council six weeks before the work, which then has two years to be done. A stem diameter up to 75 mm, over the bark 1.5 m above ground, is exempt, or 100 mm when thinning. The checker leaves the notice day out, so a notice dated 2 November 2026 opens the work from 15 December 2026 to 2 November 2028.

Damaging an active nest breaks the Wildlife and Countryside Act 1981, so nesting birds can delay work. A garden tree needs no felling licence. Order details in the checker follow the English regulations, applied to Wales too.

Scotland and Northern Ireland each have their own hedge Act.

The High Hedges (Scotland) Act 2013, in force since 1 April 2014, drops the evergreen test: any row of two or more trees or shrubs can count. Councils may use any reasonable method and charge no more than their costs. Ignoring a notice is no offence, but the council may do the work after 14 days' notice.

The High Hedges Act (Northern Ireland) 2011, in operation since 31 March 2012, covers light only and excludes woodland of 0.2 hectares or more. Its fee is £360, refunded when a notice takes effect, and appeals go to the Valuation Tribunal. No official light loss method exists there.

Both keep six weeks and two years for tree notices, and fines for unauthorised work reach £20,000 in Scotland and £100,000 in Northern Ireland on summary conviction. The methodology sets out how each rule is read.