Can you cut back a tree overhanging your property, and who pays if it causes damage?

In England and Wales, Scotland and Northern Ireland, the basic self-help rule is similar, but high-hedge thresholds and enforcement routes differ by nation. Tree Preservation Orders, highway obstruction and lease terms can change what is lawful in a specific case.

Can you cut back tree branches overhanging your property?

You can cut tree branches or roots back to the boundary where they overhang your property in England and Wales, Scotland and Northern Ireland, including council trees, but you must not trespass, damage the tree beyond the overhang, or ignore a Tree Preservation Order or conservation restriction. GOV.UK states: “You can trim branches or roots that cross into your property from a neighbour's property or a public road.” In Scotland the same common-law principle is old but clear: the Court of Session said the law entitles the affected neighbour to remove an encroaching branch. In Northern Ireland, council guidance says common-law rights allow branches to be cut back to the boundary “unless other legal restrictions, such as a tree preservation order, apply” and require cut foliage to be offered back to the owner. The safest practical rule is: cut only to the boundary, check TPO status first, and offer the arisings back.

Who pays for cutting back a neighbour's overhanging tree?

The person whose property is overhung normally pays to cut the overhanging branches themselves; the neighbour who owns the tree is not automatically liable for pruning costs just because the branches cross the boundary. This is where many tree-surgeon marketing pages are wrong: the self-help right lets the affected neighbour cut back the encroachment, but it does not make the tree owner fund routine pruning. Northern Ireland council guidance says cuttings must be offered back, but the neighbour is “not obliged to take them or remove them or pay for their removal,” and trade pricing guidance puts the cost of removing the overhanging section on the affected property owner. A typical UK tree-surgery job is often quoted around £500 on average, though small or medium tree trimming may be nearer £250. The exception is highway obstruction: in England and Wales, the highways authority can require the owner or occupier to cut the tree within 14 days and may charge for doing the work itself.

Who is liable for damage caused by a neighbour's tree?

The tree owner can be liable in nuisance where encroaching roots or branches cause damage, but in practice most household claims start with your own buildings insurer rather than a direct claim against the neighbour’s insurer. The Court of Appeal stated the core England and Wales rule: “the encroachment on to a neighbour's land of roots or branches of trees, causing damage, gives the neighbour an action in nuisance.” Northern Ireland council guidance similarly says tree damage to property can be dealt with by civil action through the courts, and Scottish commentary treats damages as available where encroachment is not removed. Insurance practice is less direct than the legal principle: the AA says that if a neighbour’s tree damages your property, “you probably won't be able to claim against them.” For subsidence, claims are commonly handled insurer-to-insurer under the ABI Domestic Tree Root Agreement, so the neighbour is often never personally pursued even where their tree caused the movement.

Is a landlord responsible for trimming trees at a rental property?

No statute makes a landlord responsible for garden trees: the Landlord and Tenant Act 1985 repairing covenant covers only the structure, exterior, drains, gutters and external pipes, not garden trees. The statute says the landlord must “keep in repair the structure and exterior of the dwelling-house (including drains, gutters and external pipes),” so an insurer guide saying the Act makes gardens the landlord’s legal responsibility is wrong. That is not the end of the issue: whoever controls the tree still owes a common-law duty of care to people who could be injured by it, and Forest Research states that the landowner and anyone controlling tree management owes that duty. Letting practice also treats trees differently from ordinary mowing or weeding: the NRLA says landlords are usually responsible for maintaining trees and climbing plants and making sure they are safe. In England and Wales, a council can also require the owner or occupier to lop a tree obstructing or endangering a highway within 14 days.

Is there a maximum height for trees near houses?

There is no general maximum height for a single tree near a house in England and Wales, Scotland or Northern Ireland; the statutory height trigger is for high hedges, not individual trees. In England and Wales, a high hedge must be formed wholly or predominantly by a line of two or more evergreens and must rise above 2 metres, so a single tall tree is outside that rule. Northern Ireland uses the same basic 2-metre, evergreen-hedge approach. Scotland is different: its 2-metre high-hedge threshold covers hedges generally, not just evergreen or semi-evergreen hedges, so species matters less there than in England, Wales and Northern Ireland. Height is also not the operative test for protected trees: in England and Wales, a Tree Preservation Order can prohibit cutting down, topping, lopping, uprooting, wilful damage or destruction unless the local planning authority consents, whatever the tree’s height.

Last reviewed August 2026.

Sources

• GOV.UK, “High hedges, trees and boundaries” — “You can trim branches or roots that cross into your property from a neighbour's property or a public road.” Source
• Court of Session judgment, 1781 — “But the moment this branch does him a real or an imaginary injury; whenever, in short, he wishes to remove it, the law entitles him to do so, in the same manner, and upon the same principles, that it entitles him to protect his property from any other kind of encroachment.” Source
• Ards and North Down Borough Council, “High Hedges — Guidance for complainants” — “Common law rights entitle neighbours to cut overhanging branches back to the boundary line (unless other legal restrictions, such as a tree preservation order, apply), but require you to offer the return of cut foliage to the owner.” Source
• Antrim and Newtownabbey Borough Council, “Common Questions” — “You must offer the cuttings to your neighbour although they are not obliged to take them or remove them or pay for their removal.” Source
• MyBuilder, “Tree trimming cost guide” — “If the tree is on a neighbour's property and overhanging yours, the cost of removing the overhanging section is generally your responsibility, not theirs or their insurer's.” Source
• Costwise UK, “Tree surgeon cost” — “Tree surgery costs £500 on average in the UK.” Source
• MyJobQuote, “Tree trimming and pruning costs” — “On average, UK homeowners should expect the cost of trimming a small or medium-sized tree to be around £250.” Source
• Highways Act 1980 s.154(1) — “Where a hedge, tree or shrub overhangs a highway or any other road or footpath to which the public has access so as to endanger or obstruct the passage of vehicles or pedestrians, or obstructs or interferes with the view of drivers of vehicles or the light from a public lamp, a competent authority may, by notice either to the owner of the hedge, tree or shrub or to the occupier of the land on which it is growing, require him within 14 days from the date of service of the notice so to lop or cut it as to remove the cause of the danger, obstruction or interference.” Source
• GOV.UK, “High hedges, trees and boundaries” — “They may charge you for this.” Source
• Lemmon v Webb / Davey v Harrow Corporation reference in Court of Appeal judgment — “In Davey v. Harrow Corporation it was held that the encroachment on to a neighbour's land of roots or branches of trees, causing damage, gives the neighbour an action in nuisance; and that no distinction is to be drawn between trees which may have been self-sown and trees which were deliberately planted on the land.” Source
• AA, “Trees and home insurance” — “If a neighbour's tree causes damage to your property, you probably won't be able to claim against them.” Source
• Bishop & Sewell, “Neighbour disputes: am I liable for tree root damage?” — “Most tree root subsidence disputes between neighbours are dealt with by their insurers, and where the respective insurers are signatories of the ABI Domestic Tree Root Agreement (DTRA) claims are, in practice, not brought.” Source
• Brodies, “Problematic trees and shrubs” — “If the encroachment is not to be removed, the affected owner may be entitled to damages.” Source
• Antrim and Newtownabbey Borough Council, “Common Questions” — “As regards trees causing damage to property this can be tackled by taking civil action through the Courts” Source
• Landlord and Tenant Act 1985 s.11(1)(a) — “to keep in repair the structure and exterior of the dwelling-house (including drains, gutters and external pipes),” Source
• Forestry Commission / Forest Research, “Common sense risk management of trees” — “The owner of the land on which a tree stands, together with any party who has control over the tree's management, owes a duty of care at common law to all people who might be injured by the tree.” Source
• NRLA, “Landlords’ essential guide to garden maintenance” — “Landlords are usually responsible for the maintenance of trees and climbing plants, making sure they are safe.” Source
• Anti-social Behaviour Act 2003 s.66(1)(a) — “(a)is formed wholly or predominantly by a line of two or more evergreens; and” Source
• Anti-social Behaviour Act 2003 s.66(1)(b) — “(b)rises to a height of more than two metres above ground level.” Source
• High Hedges (Scotland) Act 2013 s.1(1)(b) — “(b)rises to a height of more than 2 metres above ground level, and” Source
• High Hedges Act (Northern Ireland) 2011 s.2(1)(b) — “(b)rises to a height of more than two metres above ground level.” Source
• Town and Country Planning Act 1990 s.198(3)(a) — “(a)for prohibiting (subject to any exemptions for which provision may be made by the order) the cutting down, topping, lopping, uprooting, wilful damage or wilful destruction of trees except with the consent of the local planning authority, and for enabling that authority to give their consent subject to conditions;” Source