Free UK Tree Preservation Order (TPO) Checker
Enter a postcode or address to check whether Tree Preservation Orders, conservation areas or other planning protections may affect trees near a property.
No account needed. Guidance based on available public data — always confirm with your Local Planning Authority before carrying out tree work.
Check whether a tree may be protected
A Tree Preservation Order is made by a Local Planning Authority to protect a tree, a group of trees or a woodland. Where one applies, you need written consent before pruning, felling, topping, lopping or uprooting.
Carrying out that work without consent can be a criminal offence, whoever owns the land.
Trees in a conservation area can be protected even where no individual TPO is shown. That is why a blank result is not the same as a clear one — the national dataset is incomplete and varies between councils, so your Local Planning Authority must confirm the final status of any individual tree before work begins.
What the checker looks for
The postcode search is free and needs no account. A paid property report adds the wider planning constraints around an address.
Free search
No account- Tree Preservation OrdersPublished TPO zones from the national planning.data.gov.uk dataset, plotted on the map with their distance from your postcode.
In the report
Optional- Conservation areasDesignations near the address. These can restrict tree work even where no individual TPO exists.
- Article 4 directionsDirections removing permitted development rights, which can affect what you may do without consent.
- Nearby listed buildingsListed buildings within 150 m, since works close to one can carry their own planning constraints.
What to do before carrying out tree work
Five steps, in order. The check is the quick part — the confirmation is what protects you.
Search the postcode
We geocode it with Postcodes.io, then query the national dataset for Tree Preservation Order zones near that point.
Read the distance
Check how close each record sits. A zone covering a neighbouring plot can still include trees on a shared boundary.
Identify the council
Tree protection is administered by the Local Planning Authority — usually the district or borough council for the address.
Confirm in writing
Ask the council to confirm the status of the specific tree. This is the only answer that carries legal weight.
Apply or give notice
Apply for consent for work on a TPO tree, or give six weeks' written notice for a tree in a conservation area.
Working through an application? How to apply for TPO works consent.
Questions people ask before tree work
How do I find out if a tree has a TPO?
Can I check a TPO using a postcode?
Can I prune a protected tree?
Does being in a conservation area protect trees?
Is this an official council TPO search?
What should I do if no TPO appears on the map?
Guides to tree protection rules
Plain-English explanations of the rules that apply before you carry out work on a tree.
- What is a Tree Preservation Order?What a TPO covers, who makes one, and what it stops you doing.
- Can I cut down a tree in my garden?When you need consent to fell a tree on your own property.
- Can I prune a protected tree?Why pruning and pollarding count as works needing consent.
- TPO vs conservation areaTwo different protections, two different processes.
- Applying for tree work consentHow to submit an application and what happens next.
- Conservation area tree checkerCheck whether an address sits in a conservation area.
Checking a specific area? Browse TPO checks by county and council for local planning authority guidance.
Where this data comes from
Searches run against Tree Preservation Order records published to the national planning.data.gov.uk dataset. Council participation in that dataset is uneven, so an absent record is not evidence that a tree is unprotected.
More about TPOs and this checkerCheck a postcode
Free, no account, results in seconds.