Which Trees Are Protected in the UK?

No law in England, Scotland, Wales or Northern Ireland protects a tree because of what kind of tree it is. An oak, a yew or a sweet chestnut is treated the same way as a sycamore, a cypress or a fruit tree.

What decides it is the tree's location and the decisions already made about it. Two identical trees on the same street can have completely different protection: one may have a Tree Preservation Order, the other none.

In practice, large, healthy, prominent trees are the ones councils protect most often, because amenity is the test for a TPO. That's why old oaks, beeches and limes so often turn out to be protected, and why people assume those species are protected by law.

• A Tree Preservation Order. The council has made an order covering the tree, on its own, as part of a group, or within an area or woodland order. You need the council's consent before cutting it down, pruning it, or damaging its roots.
• A conservation area. Most trees in a conservation area are protected if the trunk is more than 75mm across, measured 1.5m above the ground. You must give the council six weeks' written notice before working on one.
• A planning condition. A planning permission for the property may require certain trees to be kept or replaced, often for five years or more after building work.
• A felling licence. Felling more than five cubic metres of timber in a calendar quarter usually needs a licence from the Forestry Commission. Trees in gardens are exempt, so this mainly affects woodland and farmland.

A tree can be covered by more than one of these at once. Most homeowners only need to worry about the first two.

Even an unprotected tree comes with some legal limits:

• Nesting birds. It's an offence to damage or destroy an active nest, so felling or heavy pruning between March and August needs a careful check first.
• Bats. Bat roosts are protected all year. Old trees with holes, splits or loose bark often hold them, and disturbing a roost is an offence.
• Restrictive covenants. Your property deeds may stop you removing certain trees, whatever the council says.
• Neighbours' trees. You can cut back branches and roots that cross onto your land, but not kill the tree, and you should offer the cuttings back.

Some trees get extra weight in the planning system without a separate law. National planning policy in England treats ancient woodland and ancient or veteran trees as irreplaceable, so councils strongly resist development that would harm them.

Trees on a Site of Special Scientific Interest, in a scheduled monument or on National Trust land also come under those regimes. In countryside hedgerows, the Hedgerow Regulations 1997 control removing the hedge itself.

These rarely affect a garden tree. If you own a very old or very large tree, assume the council will take an interest and ask before doing anything major.

1. 1Search the postcode for published TPO zones near the property.
2. 2Check whether the property is in a conservation area.
3. 3Look at the planning history for conditions about trees, especially if the house was built or extended recently.
4. 4Ask the council's tree officer to confirm. Councils hold the definitive TPO register, and many don't publish it in full online.
5. 5Before felling or heavy pruning, check for nesting birds and signs of bats.

If none of the four protections apply, you can generally work on a tree on your own land without the council's permission.