Free TPO Checker

The TPO checker takes a UK postcode, finds its location, and searches available public datasets for Tree Preservation Order records nearby. In seconds you get a simple indication of whether protected-tree records may be in the area, plus a map showing roughly where they sit.

It is designed to be a fast first step — the kind of check worth doing before you book a tree surgeon, exchange on a property, or start any pruning, pollarding or felling. It is free to use, needs no account, and does not store your search against your name.

A result here is guidance only. If the checker shows that TPO records may be nearby, treat that as a prompt to look more closely — not as proof that your specific tree is protected. If it shows nothing, that does not guarantee the tree is unprotected.

The reason is simple: the public data we search is incomplete and varies a great deal between councils. Many Tree Preservation Orders are held only in a council's own records and have not been published to a national dataset. A conservation area designation — which can restrict tree work even where there is no TPO — may also not appear.

• It can tell you whether published records appear near a location.
• It can give you a sensible reason to check further before working on a tree.
• It cannot confirm the legal status of an individual tree.
• It cannot replace written confirmation from your Local Planning Authority.

Carrying out work on a tree that is protected by a TPO — or in a conservation area — without the right consent can be a criminal offence, and the fines can be significant. The responsibility sits with whoever carries out or orders the work, so a quick check protects both you and your tree surgeon.

Protection applies regardless of who owns the land, and it covers a wide range of work: cutting down, topping, lopping, uprooting, and wilful damage — which includes pruning and pollarding. Because the rules bite before the chainsaw starts, the time to check is now, not after.

Automated data only goes so far. Where the answer matters — significant works, a property sale, a disagreement with a neighbour or the council — what you usually need is not another search but a record of one.

The report takes the address you searched and checks four datasets against it: Tree Preservation Orders, conservation areas, Article 4 directions and listed buildings. It states what was found and what was not, says plainly where a council has published nothing to the national dataset, and dates the whole thing — so there is something to hand a solicitor, a tree surgeon or the council itself.

A Tree Preservation Order protects named trees, groups or woodlands. A conservation area is a wider designation that can protect most trees within its boundary, usually by requiring you to give the council written notice before you work on them — even with no specific TPO in place.

That is why "no TPO found" is never the whole story. Always check whether the property sits in a conservation area as well, and confirm both with your Local Planning Authority before carrying out tree works.