What Is a Tree Preservation Order?

A Tree Preservation Order is a written order made by a Local Planning Authority — usually your local council — that protects specific trees, groups of trees or woodlands. Once an order is in place, most work on those trees needs the council's consent.

It can protect a single tree, several named trees, an area of trees, or an entire woodland. Crucially, the protection attaches to the trees themselves, so it stays in force even when the property is sold.

Trees do a lot for a place: they shape its character, support wildlife, provide shade and soak up rainfall. When a council judges that particular trees bring real amenity value to an area, a TPO lets it protect them from being removed or badly damaged without proper consideration.

Orders are often made when a valued tree is thought to be at risk — for example, ahead of development, or when a council learns a notable tree may be felled. The aim is balance: sensible management can still happen, but it goes through the council first.

A TPO generally means you must not, without consent:

• Cut down the tree.
• Top or lop it (including pruning and crown work).
• Pollard it.
• Uproot it.
• Wilfully damage or destroy it, including damaging its roots.

The restriction is wide on purpose. Even work that seems routine, like a heavy prune, normally needs the council's prior consent when a tree is protected.

Local Planning Authorities make and manage Tree Preservation Orders. In most areas that is the district, borough or city council; in some places a unitary authority or national park authority holds the role. Each authority keeps its own records of the orders it has made.

There is no single complete national register, which is why records and online maps vary so much from one council to the next — and why confirming directly with the right authority matters.

To find out whether a tree is protected:

• Search available public data by postcode here for a first indication.
• Look at the council's published TPO map or register, where one exists.
• Contact the Local Planning Authority's tree officer about the specific address.
• Ask whether the property is also in a conservation area.
• Get written confirmation before any work.

Remember a check here is guidance only — the council is always the authority on whether a tree is protected.