My Neighbour's Leyland Cypress Hedge is Enormous — What Can I Do?

If there is one plant responsible for more sustained neighbour disputes in Britain than any other, it is probably Leyland cypress. Fast-growing, evergreen, planted in the 1970s and 1980s in millions of gardens as a quick-growing screen, Leyland cypress hedges across the country have grown to heights that their original planters certainly did not anticipate, casting deep shade over adjacent properties and creating conflicts that can run for years.

In Grange-over-Sands, Kendal, Ulverston and across the residential areas of South Lakeland, we see the results of these original planting decisions regularly. If you are on the receiving end of a very large Leyland cypress hedge belonging to your neighbour, this guide sets out your options honestly.

What the High Hedges Act Allows

The High Hedges provisions of the Anti-Social Behaviour Act 2003 created a process by which homeowners can complain to their local council about a neighbouring hedge that is affecting the enjoyment of their home. The key provisions are:

The hedge must consist of two or more predominantly evergreen or semi-evergreen trees or shrubs. Leyland cypress hedges almost always qualify on this basis.

The hedge must be over two metres tall. Most long-established Leyland cypress hedges in residential areas are considerably taller than this.

The hedge must be adversely affecting the reasonable enjoyment of your residential property. This typically means significant loss of light to the house or garden, or the hedge being so close and large that it dominates and oppresses the use of the garden.

The complaint must be about a hedge on a neighbouring property, not your own.

If all of these conditions are met, you can submit a formal complaint to the local council, currently Westmorland and Furness Council for most of South Lakeland, or Lancaster City Council for properties in North Lancashire. The council charges a fee for investigating the complaint. The fee for Westmorland and Furness Council is currently set by them and should be confirmed directly before submitting.

If the council upholds your complaint, they can issue a remedial notice requiring your neighbour to reduce the hedge to a specified height and maintain it at that height. If your neighbour fails to comply, the council has enforcement powers.

What the High Hedges Act Cannot Do

The High Hedges Act has important limitations that are worth understanding before going down this route.

It applies only to hedges, meaning a line of two or more trees or shrubs. A single large Leyland cypress does not qualify. The Act also applies only to evergreen or semi-evergreen species. A row of very tall deciduous trees that creates shade in summer but is bare in winter would not qualify under the High Hedges provisions.

The Act does not give you the right to insist the hedge is removed entirely, only to a remediated height that the council considers appropriate. The council determines the required height, which is not necessarily the height you would prefer.

The process is also slow. From submitting a complaint to receiving a decision typically takes several months. If you are hoping for a quick resolution to a problem that has been developing for years, the formal legal process may be frustrating in its pace.

Before Going to the Council

Our consistent advice, based on many years of working in gardens across South Lakeland and seeing how these situations play out, is to try direct negotiation with your neighbour before submitting a formal complaint. A politely worded conversation or letter, explaining the specific impact the hedge is having, and proposing a reasonable outcome, often resolves the situation. Many people who planted a fast-growing hedge for screening purposes genuinely did not anticipate it becoming the size it is and may be willing to have it reduced once the impact on neighbours is pointed out.

We are occasionally asked to come and give a joint assessment to both neighbours in these situations, confirming what the hedge is and what a reasonable managed height would look like. This neutral professional input sometimes breaks a deadlock and avoids the formal complaints process entirely.

What About Cutting It Yourself?

You have the right to cut back any branches or growth from your neighbour's hedge that crosses the boundary into your property, up to the boundary line. You do not need permission to do this, but you must offer the cut material back to your neighbour and cannot charge them for the work. You cannot cut beyond the boundary.

This right is useful for managing the growth that is actually overhanging your property but does not address the shading and dominance caused by a tall hedge that remains on your neighbour's side of the boundary.

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