About High Hedges and the High Hedges Law

Index at top of this page but please read the below entry first.
(For Wales also see below Situation in Wales from Jan 2005. For Scotland see Scothedge )
 

• The High Hedges Legislation is now on the statute books. It received the Royal Assent on 20th November 2003.
   
• The law came into force in England on the 1st June, 2005; in Wales on 1st January 2005. The commencement order and the revised appeals regulations are on the HMSO website HMSO website

• It might be worth first skimming through the brief note: General advice for those new to hedge problems

• The High Hedges Law applies only to mainly evergreen or semi evergreen hedges. It may still be worth at least looking into the rather limited possibility of usingthe small claims court for other types of hedge. ;Reclaiming cost of 'cutting back' through the Small Claims Court.

 
Preliminaries to using the High Hedges Law

• There are new requirements. 1. You will have to have contacted your neighbour within a few weeks of going to the Council. 2. It is likely you will also be expected to have offered Mediation. We suggest that you write a polite letter to the grower a few weeks before you intend to use the High Hedges Law and that you may wish use this opportunity to offer mediation.
  
  In this letter you should ask the grower to communicute with you about the reduction of his hedge mentioning very briefly what problems the High Hedge is causing for you. You should politely ask the grower to reduce the hedge sufficiently to alleviate these problems, (though not to below 2 metres). You should offer him mediation if your council is saying you need to have offered mediation, but be sure to specify that you expect the grower to share or even fully meet the cost of the mediation. Keep this letter as short and to the point as possible. Try to get it on one side of paper, and we do not mean one side of A4, closely typed.
  
  
• If the hedge growers do not respond in two weeks let them know you are going to the council. You are required to give a warning.
   
• Send your letter by recorded delivery or hand deliver with a witness, and keep a copy, because you will have to confirm that you have made every reasonable effort to settle the dispute with your neighbour before the Council will accept a complaint under the new Law. You will need to show that you have taken this step before you use the new law.

  Summary and further explanation of the preliminaries to using the High Hedges Law, including Mediation

  Specimen (model) letter to grower, where required

• Forms and and a clearly set out government advice pamphlet called 'Complaining to the Council' will be available from your local council on June 1st 2005 or just before. The advice pamphlet can, at present, also be obtained by ringing DCLG Publications (tel: 0870 1226 236). or visiting the DCLG website (Your initial complaint about a neighbour's hedge MUST be made on the official forms provided by the council.)
   
• REMEMBER this law is about loss of enjoyment of your amenity because of someone else's hedge. It is not just about loss of light to your home and garden. When you complete your application forms make sure you outline ALL the forms of nuisance caused to you by the height of the hedge
   
• Light and sunlight deprivation to homes and to gardens is only one of the criteria to be considered. The others which administering officer is bound by Law to consider are -
  
  * safe height for regular trimming and maintenance, where the hedge is in such a position that it needs to be regularly maintained, because, for instance, the overhang is taking up too much of the victim's ground;
  * plant damage where it is clearly caused by hedge height through deprivation of light or rainfall;
  Visual amenity
  * the hedge unduly enclosing the property or unduly intruding on the outlook, (particular views are not protected).
  * the hedge being oppressive and spoiling reasonable enjoyment of a property;
  * the hedge being disproportionate to the garden space it dominates.
  
  
•  Later, if you think the officer has only considered loss of light and is relying entirely on the Government's set of figures, 'the BRE Guidelines' then draw your Council's attention to the fact that the Law is not about loss of light; it is about loss of amenity, and persist. You are entitled to see a copy of the Council's report if you ask for it. If you are a Hedgeline member, get on to your local area organiser and if he or she agrees with you, Hedgeline will do everything it can. The light measurements give ridiculously high hedges in many situations.

  The relevant extracts from the Government Guidance notes which establish that light loss and the 'BRE Guidelines' do not supply final hedge heights These are what you need in order to confront local authorities which are using light loss only and for use in your appeal. Extracts from Government Guidance notes
   

• There are links to our guides to the law itself, further down this page. For more detail on measurements for light loss see Scale of height reductions under the 'High Hedges Law'

Fees - Huge fees for High Hedges Law

• Many councils are asking huge fees.

  Sadly the Government imposed no maximum figure for fees chargeable by LAs, even though it authorised the spending of money from its grant to councils for the implementation of this Law.

  Table of fees which Councils are charging ( Check with council in case there are changes which have not come to our notice)

  If there is only one complainant there should only be one fee see Troubleshooting Q9 Unfortunately if there is more than one complainant about a single hedge, each has to pay a fee.

  If you wish to make a protest about the fee we suggest that you -

  • write to your council on their official complaints form, see Councils and fees especially model letter A.
  • Send a courtesy copy to your MP, or AM in Wales, for information only, at this stage.
  • finally, if appropriate, go to the your council ombudsman. Details of how and when to do this are on Councils and fees
  After all this Law was intended to be a deterrent to the growing of problem high hedges. It will not be if the growers see people put off by high fees.

  See also How to complain to your Council which gives general advice on effective ways to complain.

Claiming fees back from the grower through the small claims court.

We have as yet no information that anyone has tried to claim their fees back but if you warn the grower of your intention to use the High Hedges Law then you should be able to claim you fees back in the Small claims Court. The High Hedges Law requires that you send letters to the grower before you use the Law Advice on how to draft your initial letters if you wish to claim back fees later.

Appeals.

Please be sure to contact Dot on Dot@mpcc.org.uk
Do this quickly after you get the council's remedial notice as you only have 28 days to appeal and the way you do it is crucial.
Dot is looking into appeals for us and has the necessary expertise.

Potential damage to buildings and other constructions.

• This will not be directly covered in the new legislation. In most cases it will be possible to find another reason to invoke the High Hedges Law and get the cause of the trouble satisfactorily reduced but where hedges are very near property it may not be possible to use the High Hedges Law to get them reduced sufficiently. Please see our note, Potential damage to buildings

Concise Notes on the Content of the High Hedges Legislation

Easy Guide to the High Hedges Legislation in question and answer form

Text of the Act - Part 8 of Anti-social Behaviour Act

DCLG (Government) publications

• High Hedges: Complaining to the Council (PDF) and
• High Hedges: Guidance Notes for local authorities (PDF) entitled 'High Hedges Complaints: Prevention and Cure'
  
• 'Hedge hight and light loss' (the 'BRE Guidelines')
  all available on -http://www.communities.gov.uk/treesandhedges
  Specific page -http://www.communities.gov.uk/planningandbuilding/planning/treeshighhedges/highhedges/

The DCLG (Government) contact email is hedges@communities.gsi.gov.uk *