Please cut your hedge
‹ Back to list 24 Nov 05
In June 2005 Part 8 of the Anti-Social Behaviour Act 2003 came into force providing a mechanism for resolving disputes between neighbours over boundary hedges.
For years boundary hedges have caused problems between neighbouring house owners. The most common culprit is the leylandii which is a very fast growing thick evergreen hedging plant. If leylandii is not kept regularly trimmed it can provoke the fury of neighbours complaining of loss of sunlight to their gardens. It has always been possible to take action against high buildings or walls and to remove intruding roots or overhanging branches providing the cuttings are returned to the owner.
Under the new Act it is now possible to apply for an adjudication from your local council which could in turn lead to a court order requiring the owner of the hedge to reduce its size.
The legislation provides that complaints should only be made if the hedge exceeds 2 metres in height and causes significant interference with the reasonable enjoyment of your ‘dwelling’. ‘Significant interference’ would include, for example, obstruction of light to windows to your house and definition of ‘hedge’ refers to a line of two or more evergreen or semi-evergreen trees such as leylandii, laurel and holly but not deciduous trees such as beech.
The legislation does not apply to the problem of encroaching roots or overhanging branches where the law remains the same. In those cases if a problem cannot be resolved by negotiation application would have to be made to the Court.
The local council will only become involved in disputes over the height of a hedge but not, for example, its type or width, and only after the complainant has made reasonable attempts to resolve the problem with his neighbour. Guidance on how to resolve this type of problem can be found in a leaflet Over the Garden Hedge which is on the web site of the Office of the Deputy Prime Minister at www.odpm.gov.uk/treesandhedges. Further information is available from the pressure group Hedgeline on its website at http://freespace.virgin.net/clare.h.
If you have exhausted the option of a negotiated settlement and want to apply to your local council you will need to obtain a complaint form on which you can set out the nature of the problem including a plan and helpful photographs. Your local council having received your complaint will consider all the relevant information and evidence and carry out an inspection of the offending hedge. The local authority adjudicator will endeavour to strike a fair and sensible balance between the rights of the hedge owner and those of the complainant. A compromise solution involving a degree of reduction of the hedge will be the answer in most cases. Further information can be found in the Government leaflet “High Hedges: Complaining to the Council”.
If all else fails we are happy to advise you as to your further remedies and options including, but only as a last resort, taking the dispute to Court.
TOM HARRISON — Senior Partner
