Trees frequently asked questions

General
Can I request a new tree to be planted in my road or a dead/missing tree to be replaced?  

Tree inspections
A tree outside my house is very overgrown. How often are street trees inspected?

Tree damage
A footpath has been damaged/disrupted by tree roots and is in need of repair.
There is a tree outside my house causing subsidence to my property. What do I do?
The tree outside my property has falling fruit/leaves and the footpath needs cleaning.

Tree pruning/removal
I live in a private property and have a tree in my garden that needs inspecting/pruning.
A tree is overhanging into my private property from my neighbour's garden. How do I get it cut back?
I am a housing tenant and have a tree on my property that needs pruning.
A tree that needs pruning is overhanging onto a public highway. What can I do?
There is a tree making a sticky mess on my car/garden and I would like it removed.
There is a tree blocking light into my property. Can it be pruned/removed?
There are bird droppings and the footpath needs cleansing. Can the tree be removed?


General
Can I request a new tree to be planted in my road or a dead/missing tree to be replaced?  
Individual requests will be considered for the planting programme which runs from October to February/March each year. Proposed planting positions of new trees are marked on pavements with a white 'T' in a circle and residents nearest the proposed planting location are consulted by letter.

Tree inspections
A tree outside my house is very overgrown. How often are street trees inspected?
All street trees are subject to an inspection and pruning programme every three years, on a ward-by-ward basis. Inspection and pruning requests outside of this programme will only be considered if the tree is:


Tree damage
A footpath has been damaged/disrupted by tree roots and is in need of repair.
The highways are inspected every six months by a highway inspector who will order the pavement to be repaired.

There is a tree outside my house causing subsidence to my property. What do I do?
Contact your own insurance company. An insurance surveyor will need to inspect the damage before you can claim. Claims of damage must be made in writing to:
The Insurance Section, 3rd Floor South, Town Hall Annexe, New Broadway, London, W5 2BY.

The first action you should take is to contact your own insurance company. Your insurance company's surveyor will need to inspect the damage before you can consider making a claim. If your insurance does not cover subsidence or you are uninsured you will need to complete a subsidence damage caused by tree roots form (word), and return it to the council for consideration.

The tree outside my property has falling fruit/leaves and the footpath needs cleaning.
The council does not remove or prune trees for this specific reason. These are seasonal problems that pruning cannot solve. The council does have a schedule of cleaning the footpath regularly, contact the highways cleansing section on tel: (020) 8825 6444.

Tree pruning/removal
I live in a private property and have a tree in my garden that needs inspecting/pruning.
The council does not conduct inspections or tree pruning for private residents. You can contact an approved contractor to do the work for you. Before any work is undertaken, check there is no Tree Preservation Order (TPO) on the tree and that it is not in a Conservation Area. This information can be obtained from planning services.

A tree is overhanging into my private property from my neighbour's garden. How do I get it cut back?
Ask the tree-owner to prune it back. If they refuse, you are legally-entitled to prune it back if you:

Before any work is undertaken, check there is no Tree Preservation Order (TPO) on the tree and that it is not in a conservation area. This information can be obtained from planning services.

I am a housing tenant and have a tree on my property that needs pruning.
Council housing tenants should contact their area housing manager who will decide whether the work needs to be undertaken.

A tree that needs pruning is overhanging onto a public highway. What can I do?
Overhanging trees and/or other vegetation from private property onto the highway is dealt with by highway inspectors in environmental services. They will send a letter to the property requesting the tree/vegetation to be cut back. If the tree owner refuses, environmental services can enforce the pruning.

There is a tree making a sticky mess on my car/garden and I would like it removed.
The council does not remove or prune trees for this specific reason. The production of sticky sap by trees is a natural process and cannot be stopped or effectively controlled.

There is a tree blocking light into my property. Can it be pruned/removed?
Residents have no legal right to light blocked by trees, however the routine three year pruning programme may alleviate the problem.

There are bird droppings and the footpath needs cleansing. Can the tree be removed?
The council does not remove or prune trees for this specific reason. This inconvenience is not sufficient justification to remove the tree. Pruning the tree is not the solution as the birds will simply sit on the remaining branches. The council does have a schedule of cleaning the footpath routinely.