Guide
TPO rules and penalties: check before you touch a protected tree
Updated
Tree preservation orders are one of the few areas of property law where an honest mistake with a chainsaw can cost five figures. The checks are free and quick, so make them first.
What a TPO forbids
A tree preservation order, made by the local planning authority under the Town and Country Planning Act regime, makes it an offence to cut down, top, lop, uproot, wilfully damage or wilfully destroy the protected tree without the authority's consent, roots included. Orders can cover single trees, groups, areas or woodlands. Government guidance on the whole regime is on gov.uk.
The penalties are real
- Destroying a protected tree, or damaging it so it is likely to be destroyed: on summary conviction a fine of up to £20,000 per tree, and an unlimited fine on conviction on indictment for serious cases. Courts can take account of any financial benefit gained.
- Other breaches (unauthorised lopping that doesn't destroy the tree) also carry fines.
- There is normally a duty to replace a tree removed or destroyed in breach, and the replacement inherits the protection.
- "The builder did it" is not a defence worth relying on: landowners have been prosecuted for works done by contractors, put TPO status in writing before anyone starts.
The free checks and the free application
- Check protection, free: ask the council's tree officer or planning department whether the tree has a TPO or stands in a conservation area; many councils publish TPO maps online.
- In a conservation area: even without a TPO, you must give the council 6 weeks' written notice (a section 211 notice) before working on most trees, the notice period lets the council decide whether to make an order.
- Apply for consent, free: there is no fee to apply to work on a TPO tree. Describe the works precisely; for anything beyond light pruning, a report from an arboriculturist supporting the application materially improves its chances.
Exceptions, narrower than people hope
Limited exceptions exist, for example dead trees and genuinely urgent removal of an immediate danger, but they are construed narrowly and you should expect to prove the condition of the tree afterwards, photograph everything and give the council prior written notice where the guidance requires it. When in doubt, a condition survey from a qualified arboriculturist (see typical costs) is far cheaper than defending a prosecution.