High hedges
You do not usually need permission to plant a hedge in your garden, but you have a responsibility for looking after the height of the hedge so it doesn't block light to your neighbour’s property.
Under legislation (under Part 8 of the Anti-social Behaviour Act 2003) we have the power to exercise control over high hedges. The Act specifically excludes complaints about the effects of the roots of a hedge, either through damage to property, taking moisture from soil or blocking drains and pipes.
The law requires people to have taken ‘all reasonable steps' to try to settle their hedge dispute for themselves before making a formal complaint to us. More information.
How Do I Make a Complaint?
In the first instance the legislation indicates that if someone is troubled by a neighbouring hedge, the best way to deal with the issue is to discuss it amicably and to agree a solution. For this reason, the law requires people to have taken reasonable steps to try and settle their hedge dispute for themselves before complaining to the Council under this legislation.
The City Council cannot get involved in such matters until they are satisfied that all attempts to rectify the matter amicably have been exhausted. As a minimum the Council require evidence that you have written twice to the neighbouring property where the hedge is located, in addition to the previous attempts of verbal contact.
You can make a complaint by using the formal complaint form, there is a charge for this.
You will need to provide evidence of all the steps you have taken to try to resolve the matter so far. If you don’t, we will not be able to pursue your complaint.
Before we can deal with your complaint, we need to be sure that:
- The hedge is covered by the legislation
- That you have exhausted all other ways to sort out the problem yourself
- You have paid the fee
This submission of a complaint does not guarantee that action can be taken and a site visit would need to take place to carry out accurate measurements to calculate the action hedge height, which is based upon the size of garden, length of hedge and orientation of the properties.
For more information regarding the high hedge can be found here https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/over-the-garden-hedge
Once the Council is satisfied that all of the appropriate steps have been taken and the complaint is valid the submission can then be considered. The procedure that would be followed should the Council get involved is outlined in https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/high-hedges-complaining-to-the-council/high-hedges-complaining-to-the-council