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High-hedges disputes on the Thanet coast: the ASB Act 2003 route via Thanet DC

A neighbour's hedge over 2m blocking your light or access is a formal complaint under Part 8 of the Anti-social Behaviour Act 2003. Thanet District Council charges £650 to take the complaint on. Here is when the route works, when it does not, and the common-law alternative.

What the Act covers

Part 8 of the Anti-social Behaviour Act 2003 (sections 65-84) created the formal high-hedges complaint procedure. The basic definition is precise:

• A line of two or more trees or shrubs. A single tree is not a "hedge" for the Act's purposes.
• Wholly or predominantly evergreen or semi-evergreen. Deciduous hedges: beech, hornbeam, native mixed: are largely outside the Act.
• Over 2 metres above ground level. Under 2m, no complaint.
• Acting as a barrier to light or access at your property.

Meet all four tests and you have a hedge that Thanet DC can take a formal complaint on.

The private-resolution requirement

The Act requires you to make a genuine attempt at private resolution first. That means:

• A letter to the neighbour describing the problem, the loss of light or access, and what you want done.
• A reasonable time for them to respond and act.
• If mediation is available in the area, a note offering it.

Thanet DC expects you to have tried to resolve it yourself first (its page asks for two or more attempts). Keep copies of everything: the council will want to see the letters, the response (or lack of one), and the timeline before they accept the case.

The Thanet DC fee

Thanet's high-hedges complaint fee is £650. Check the Thanet DC high hedges page for how and when it is paid before you submit the complaint.

What the council does with the complaint

Thanet's tree officer will:

1. Confirm the complaint meets the four tests above.
2. Visit both properties.
3. Measure the hedge and assess the loss of light / access using the action hedge height formula in the Government's high hedges guidance.
4. Serve a Remedial Notice on the hedge owner if the finding is against them: typically requiring the hedge to be cut to a specified height (never below 2m by statute) and kept there.
5. Or dismiss the complaint if the hedge does not cause enough obstruction to justify action.

Failure to comply with a Remedial Notice is a criminal offence with fines up to £1,000.

What the Act does not do

• Root damage claims. Not covered. That is a common-law nuisance claim, separate.
• Deciduous hedges. Beech, hornbeam, hawthorn, blackthorn: outside scope even at 4m.
• Single specimen trees. Not a hedge.
• Hedges under 2m. No matter how much light they take.
• Views. The Act protects light and access, not the view.

Common-law alternative: cut it back yourself

Independent of the Act, you have a long-standing common-law right to cut back branches and roots that cross your property boundary, back to the boundary line. You cannot go over the boundary. You cannot cause unnecessary damage to the parent plant. The cut material legally belongs to your neighbour, best practice is to offer it back.

On a genuinely problematic neighbour hedge, cutting back to the boundary is often the fastest resolution: no complaint fee and no council process. It does not lower the height on your neighbour's side, but it removes the physical intrusion into your property.

Conservation-area interaction

Hedges and shrubs are normally not covered by conservation area tree rules, but a tree growing in a hedge can be. If the neighbour's hedge contains a tree with a trunk over 75mm diameter at 1.5m above ground and stands in a conservation area, six weeks' written notice to the council is needed before work on it (s.211, Town and Country Planning Act 1990). That is the hedge owner's responsibility, not yours. Ramsgate, Ramsgate Royal Esplanade, Ramsgate Montefiore and Pegwell are separate conservation area designations, so check the Thanet DC conservation area location page for the address in question.

What we do in this space

We do the cutting work. We do not act as an advocate in a neighbour dispute, and we do not take instructions from one household to work on another's property. If the council issues a Remedial Notice against your neighbour and they choose to instruct us, we do the job under their instruction. If you have common-law-cut back branches yourself and want a tidier finish on your own side, we quote for that too. All quotes account for the s.211 threshold if the hedge is in a conservation area.

Sources: Anti-social Behaviour Act 2003, Part 8 (high hedges); Thanet District Council high hedges and conservation area pages; GOV.UK high hedges guidance and tree preservation and conservation area guidance (s.211, Town and Country Planning Act 1990).

Related: got a council notice? What to do if you receive a section 154 notice.