Complaints about a neighbour’s high hedges

You must try to settle a dispute about a high hedge informally before we can take any action.

We can review and make decisions on complaints by the owners or occupiers of households about hedges that are all of the following:

• Made up of 2 or more mostly evergreen or semi-evergreen trees or shrubs
• Over 2 metres tall
• Affecting your enjoyment of your home or garden because it’s too tall

There is a fee of £300 per application for this service that must be paid by the complainant. There is no guarantee that an application will be decided in the complainents favour, should the application not be determined in the complainents favour the application fee will not be refunded.

Read guidance on complaints about high hedges.

We can reject the complaint if we consider that insufficient effort has been made to resolve the matter or that the complaint is frivolous or raised solely to cause annoyance to the other person.

If we consider the circumstances justify it, we will issue a formal notice to the hedge owner that will set out what they must do to the hedge to fix the problem, and when this must be completed.

You can download the high hedge application form here.

Other legal information

People normally do not need permission to plant a hedge in their garden. And there are no general restrictions on how high you can grow your hedge.

The rules that govern the height of boundary walls and fences do not apply to hedges. While common law rights usually entitle neighbours to cut overhanging branches back to the boundary line, they cannot reduce the height of a hedge unless the owner agrees.