Rules and exemptions for landowners and estates across North London and Hertfordshire
A landowner thinning a corner of woodland tends to assume the trees are theirs to fell and mostly they are. The catch is that felling growing trees in England needs a licence from the Forestry Commission once you go past a fairly modest amount of timber. The licence itself is free. Getting caught without one is not, and the fine has had no upper limit since the start of 2023.
When a tree felling licence is needed
The rule covers growing trees on land in England. It bites once a tree reaches 8cm in diameter measured 1.3m above the ground. Coppice and underwood get a higher threshold of 15cm. Anything smaller sits outside the system altogether.
The Forestry Commission issues the licence and does not charge for it. The process is not instant though. A decision takes time to come back, so this is something to sort out well ahead of the work rather than the week before the chainsaws turn up.
The volume rule that catches people out
Most landowners never apply because they never reach the threshold. You can fell up to 5 cubic metres in any calendar quarter without a licence. Only 2 of those 5 cubic metres may be sold.
The quarters are fixed rather than rolling. They follow the calendar year in three month blocks starting in January. Fell 4 cubic metres in late March and the allowance resets a few days later. Fell 6 in one go and you needed a licence for the whole job. Five cubic metres sounds generous on paper. Two decent mature trees will use most of it.
Felling licence exemptions
The Forestry Act sets out a list of situations where no licence is needed at all. Fruit trees are exempt. So are trees growing in a garden, an orchard, a churchyard or a public open space. That last group covers a fair slice of everyday tree work.
Topping and lopping sit outside the system too, along with hedge trimming and laying. The rule is about felling rather than pruning.
Three further exemptions are relevant to estates. Felling to prevent danger or to abate a nuisance is exempt. So is felling carried out to comply with an obligation under an Act of Parliament. Felling immediately required to carry out development already authorised by planning permission is exempt as well.
A licence is not the only permission you need
A felling licence deals with forestry and says nothing about the other protections a tree might carry. A tree preservation order runs separately and needs its own consent from the council. Conservation area rules run separately again and need six weeks of written notice.
Falling inside a felling licence exemption releases you from none of that. Plenty of people have felled lawfully as far as the Forestry Commission is concerned and still been prosecuted by the local planning authority. Nesting season adds a third layer between roughly March and August, so timing the work takes some thought on any sizeable job.
What happens if you fell without one
Felling without a licence when one was needed is a criminal offence under section 17 of the Forestry Act 1967. The penalty used to be capped at £2,500 or twice the value of the trees felled. The Environment Act 2021 removed that ceiling in England from January 2023 and the fine is now unlimited.
The heavier consequence is usually the restocking notice. The Forestry Commission can require you to replant the land and to look after the new trees for up to ten years. That notice is registered as a local land charge, which means it stays with the land and binds whoever buys it next. Ignoring an enforcement notice on top of that can bring a prison sentence as well as the fine.
Felling licence rules are different in Scotland and Wales
Anyone searching for a felling licence in Scotland is looking at the wrong name. Scotland came out of the Forestry Act 1967 in 2019. Felling there sits under the Forestry and Land Management (Scotland) Act 2018 and is administered by Scottish Forestry rather than the Forestry Commission. The document is called a felling permission rather than a licence.
Wales still works under the 1967 Act, though licences there come from Natural Resources Wales. England is the only part of Great Britain where the Forestry Commission handles this.
FAQs
How much can I fell without a felling licence?
Up to 5 cubic metres in any calendar quarter, and no more than 2 of those 5 cubic metres may be sold. The quarters follow the calendar year rather than rolling forward from your last job.
Do I need a felling licence for trees in my garden?
No. Trees growing in a garden are exempt, as are fruit trees and trees in orchards, churchyards and public open spaces. A tree preservation order or conservation area designation still applies though, so garden trees are not automatically free to fell.
How much does a felling licence cost?
Nothing. Licences are free in England and issued by the Forestry Commission. The cost is time rather than money, so the sensible move is applying early.
Does a felling licence override a tree preservation order?
It does not. The two systems are separate and a protected tree needs consent from the council as well. Holding one permission is no defence to breaching the other.
Find out where you stand before the saws come out
Working out whether a job needs a licence comes down to volume, diameter and what else is protecting the trees. It is a straightforward question to answer before work starts and an expensive one to get wrong afterwards. As an ARB Approved Contractor working across North London and Hertfordshire, Thor’s Trees can measure up and tell you which permissions a job needs through a survey and consultancy visit, handle felling and removal once the paperwork is in order, and take on longer term woodland and estate tree management. Larger sites and mixed portfolios are covered by our commercial team.
