High hedge disputes in Tenterden: what the law actually says.

Neighbour & hedge law · Updated 24 September 2026

The high hedge provisions in Part 8 of the Anti-Social Behaviour Act 2003 were a long time coming. Before June 2005 there was no statutory mechanism to force a neighbour to reduce a tall hedge, however much light it took from your property. The law now exists but it's not a blunt instrument: it applies only to a defined type of hedge, only where a specific type of harm is demonstrated, and only after you've made genuine attempts to sort the matter informally. Getting the qualification checklist right before paying the Ashford BC complaint fee is worth the time.

Does the law apply to your situation? A checklist

All five of the following must be true for a formal complaint under Part 8 to be valid. Work through these before going any further.

• Two or more plants in a line. A single tree, however tall, is not a high hedge under the Act. You need at least two plants forming a continuous barrier. A lone leylandii or a single mature holly is outside the legislation's scope entirely.
• Evergreen or semi-evergreen. The plants must retain leaves through winter. A fully deciduous hedge: hawthorn, blackthorn, field maple or hornbeam planted as a boundary, does not qualify under Part 8, even if it's 5 metres tall. This catches many complaints in Tenterden's older cottage boundaries, which are often mixed deciduous.
• More than 2 metres tall. The Act sets the qualifying height at over 2 metres (approximately 6 feet 6 inches). A hedge at or below 2 metres is outside the legislation regardless of species.
• The complainant's property is a dwelling. The Act protects the occupier of a domestic property. It does not cover a complaint about your own hedge, and the hedge must be on land owned or occupied by someone else.
• Adverse effect on reasonable enjoyment. The council must be satisfied that the hedge is having, or is likely to have, an adverse effect on the reasonable enjoyment of your home or garden. Loss of light to a principal ground-floor window or to a usable garden space is the clearest basis. Pure privacy concerns, or general visual dissatisfaction, do not by themselves constitute an adverse effect under the Act.

If any of these conditions fails, Ashford BC cannot serve a remedial notice. For the first four tests Ashford says it returns the fee, but if it decides you have not made enough effort to resolve the matter informally it can keep the fee for six months. Speaking to the council's Compliance/Enforcement Team before you pay is worth doing; Ashford only issues the forms and guidance that way.

What the law does not cover

Three things come up repeatedly in calls I get from Tenterden properties that fall outside the Act's reach:

Overhanging branches. If branches from your neighbour's hedge extend over your boundary, you have a common-law right to cut them back to the boundary line. You don't need the council, you don't need their permission, and you don't need to give notice, though you do have to offer the cut material back to your neighbour rather than disposing of it. This applies regardless of hedge height, species or the nesting season (though the Wildlife and Countryside Act 1981 limits the timing for cutting, see the nesting-season callout below).

Roots causing damage. Root encroachment or damage to drains and structures is a civil nuisance matter, not a high-hedge complaint. This goes through the courts if informal resolution fails, not through the council's Part 8 process.

Boundary ownership disputes. Who owns the hedge is a separate question from whether it qualifies under Part 8. If ownership is genuinely disputed, that needs to be resolved (title documents, conveyance plans, the hedge-and-ditch rule for field boundaries) before a complaint to the council makes sense.

Informal approaches first: what to document

Ashford BC will not accept a formal complaint without evidence that the matter has been raised with the hedge owner and that informal resolution has been attempted. This is not a bureaucratic hurdle for its own sake: many disputes are resolved once a hedge owner understands the legal position, and a solicitor's letter setting out the Part 8 qualification criteria, sent before any complaint is filed, often prompts action without council involvement.

Document what you've done: letters or emails to the hedge owner with the specific problem stated clearly (not just "your hedge is too tall"), dates, any response received, and any response refused or ignored. Keep this correspondence. When you file the formal complaint, you'll need to show the council what attempts were made and when.

Mediation is worth considering for Tenterden properties where the relationship with the neighbour matters: Ashford BC points complainants to the Ashford Independent Mediation Service when you cannot talk to your neighbour directly. It is usually quicker and cheaper than the formal route, and it keeps you on speaking terms. For long-standing disputes where correspondence has already been refused for years, the formal route is often the only way forward.

Making the formal complaint to Ashford Borough Council

Step 1: Obtain the complaint form

Ashford BC issues the formal high hedge complaint form and guidance notes after you have spoken to its Compliance/Enforcement Team (01233 331111). The form asks for: the address of the affected property, the address of the hedge owner's property, a description of the hedge (species if known, approximate height, length), photographs showing the hedge and its effect on the property, and a summary of the informal steps taken. The team can advise on the form before you submit it.

Step 2: Pay the fee

Ashford Borough Council's page currently gives the complaint fee as £642, to be paid when you send in the complaint. Ashford says it returns the fee if the complaint is not valid because it is not a hedge as defined, is not evergreen or mostly evergreen, is under 2 metres high, or is not a barrier to light or access. If it decides you have not made sufficient effort to resolve the matter informally, it keeps the fee for six months to let you try again, perhaps with mediation, and refunds it if you resolve the matter and withdraw in that time; otherwise it keeps it. A vexatious or frivolous complaint (for example a repeat complaint where nothing has changed) also forfeits the fee. Check the council's page for the current figure and rules before paying.

Step 3: Council acknowledgement and initial review

Ashford BC will acknowledge the complaint and carry out a desk review against the qualification criteria. If the hedge does not qualify on its face, the complaint is returned with the fee at this stage. If it qualifies in principle, the case progresses to investigation.

Step 4: Site visit and determination

An officer from Ashford BC will arrange a site visit, typically to both properties, to assess the hedge height and its effect on the complainant's property. The council considers the overall amenity impact, any reduction in natural daylight to windows, the use of the affected garden space, and whether the height of the hedge is excessive relative to the reasonable needs of the hedge owner (screening, privacy, wind protection). Ashford BC will then issue a written determination: either that the hedge is not adversely affecting reasonable enjoyment, or that it is and a remedial notice is required.

If the council serves a remedial notice

A remedial notice issued under Part 8 specifies a target height to which the hedge must be reduced, and a compliance date. The council sets the target height after weighing the complainant's light against the hedge owner's reasonable use of the boundary. The notice also specifies ongoing maintenance: the hedge cannot be allowed to regrow above the notified height.

The hedge owner has a right of appeal to the Planning Inspectorate within 28 days of the notice. An appeal suspends the compliance requirement until the Inspectorate determines it. Appeals are heard on the papers in most cases, though the Planning Inspectorate can hold hearings for complex cases.

Non-compliance with a remedial notice, once any appeal period has expired and any appeal dismissed, is a criminal offence carrying a fine of up to level 3 on the standard scale (currently £1,000), with further daily fines if the failure continues after a conviction. Persistent non-compliance can result in the council carrying out the required works and recovering the cost from the hedge owner.

As the hedge owner, receiving a complaint

If you own an established evergreen boundary in Tenterden, St Michaels or one of the Weald villages and receive a notification from Ashford BC that a high hedge complaint has been filed, the practical options are: engage with the council's investigation honestly, consider voluntary reduction to a reasonable height before the determination (the council may then see no need for a remedial notice), or appeal any remedial notice served if you believe the target height is unreasonable.

I'm sometimes asked to quote for the reduction work once a notice has been served. The notice sets the height, so check what it says before you book any work. Taking a dense 4-5 metre Leylandii down a long way in one cut can leave bare brown stems that never green up, so ask whether the staged approach I describe in the Leylandii reduction guide can reach the notified height while keeping a green face.

If the compliance date looks tight, contact the council early and explain what you plan; I cannot promise an extension, but an early conversation is better than a missed date.

Sources: Anti-Social Behaviour Act 2003, Part 8 (legislation.gov.uk/ukpga/2003/38/part/8); High Hedges: Complaining to the Council (DCLG, 2005, gov.uk); Over the Garden Hedge (Planning Inspectorate guidance, gov.uk); Wildlife and Countryside Act 1981, s.1; Anti-social Behaviour Act 2003, section 75 (offences); Ashford Borough Council, hedges and high hedges page (ashford.gov.uk), checked October 2026.