Can you replace a hedge with a fence without planning permission?

 

People often ask whether they can replace a hedge with a fence without planning permission. It sounds like a straightforward garden job, but it is one of the easiest ways to create a planning enforcement problem at the front of a home.

The usual situation is a mature hedge around 3 metres high. The owner removes it and installs a 2 metre close-boarded fence for privacy or security. Unfortunately, the height of the old hedge does not give you permission for a fence of the same height. A living hedge and a constructed fence are treated differently by the planning system.

This page explains the rules in England. Our detailed guide to Class A gates, fences and walls covers the permitted development right itself.

 

The 1 metre and 2 metre fence rules

 

Class A of Part 2 of Schedule 2 to the GPDO permits the erection, construction, maintenance, improvement or alteration of a gate, fence, wall or other means of enclosure. The right is subject to some important limits.

Location or circumstance	Normal permitted development position
Adjacent to a highway used by vehicular traffic	Up to 1 metre above ground level
Not adjacent to a highway used by vehicular traffic	Up to 2 metres above ground level
Within the curtilage of, or surrounding, a listed building	Class A does not apply
Permitted development rights removed by a condition or Article 4 direction	A planning application may be required even below the usual limits

That is why a 2 metre fence across a front boundary can be unauthorised even though the hedge it replaced was much taller.

 

What does “adjacent to a highway” mean?

 

Do not assume that a pavement, narrow grass verge or small set-back means the fence is no longer adjacent to the highway. The word “adjacent” is wider than “touching” or “abutting”. It is a matter of fact and degree, and a fence can still be adjacent where it clearly forms the boundary between the property and the road.

A front fence at the back of a pavement beside a road will often be treated as adjacent to a highway used by vehicular traffic. A stand-alone public footpath that is not used by vehicles may be different, but the status of the route and the physical relationship need to be checked carefully.

Corner plots are especially vulnerable. A 2 metre fence running along the side garden may still be adjacent to the side road, even if the house itself faces another direction.

 

Can you replace a hedge with a fence if the hedge is 3 metres high?

 

No. The height of the hedge is not a planning “credit” that can be transferred to a replacement fence.

The provision allowing an existing gate, fence or wall to be maintained, improved or altered without exceeding its former height does not turn a living hedge into an existing 3 metre fence. Removing the hedge and erecting timber panels is the construction of a new means of enclosure, so the 1 metre or 2 metre limit applies to the new structure.

The same problem arises where a 1 metre wall is topped with another metre of close-boarded fencing. The overall boundary treatment is not made lawful by describing the two parts separately.

 

Can the garden hedge itself be removed without planning permission?

 

An ordinary hedge within, or marking the boundary of, a private residential garden can normally be removed without planning permission. Before starting, however, check whether:

• A planning condition requires the hedge or an approved landscaping scheme to be retained
• Any trees within the hedge are protected by a Tree Preservation Order or conservation area controls
• The hedge is wholly yours to remove and there is no boundary dispute or restrictive covenant
• Birds or other protected species are using it

There is no single legal “nesting season” during which every hedge is automatically untouchable. Active wild bird nests are protected whenever they are in use or being built under section 1 of the Wildlife and Countryside Act 1981. In practice, it is sensible to avoid major hedge removal during the main nesting and breeding period, usually 1 March to 31 August, where possible, and to inspect the hedge immediately before work starts. If an active nest is found, stop and obtain suitable ecological advice. See our guide to protected species and planning.

Our separate page on hedges around a dwelling explains the planning position for domestic hedges in more detail.

 

Field hedgerows are different

 

Do not apply the private-garden rule to a hedge beside a field, paddock or other countryside land. Most countryside hedgerows should not be removed without first checking the rules. Our guide to field hedgerows, access gaps, trimming and development explains the wider checks. The Hedgerows Regulations 1997 can protect qualifying hedgerows on or next to agricultural or forestry land, land used for breeding or keeping horses, ponies or donkeys, and certain other land.

You may need to give the council a formal Hedgerow Removal Notice before removing all or part of the hedgerow. The council normally has 42 days to respond. It may allow removal or serve a retention notice. A hedge in, or marking the boundary of, a private garden is normally outside those Regulations, but the land use and boundary should be checked rather than assumed.

 

Why security concerns rarely solve the planning problem

 

Privacy and security can be material planning considerations, but they do not create an exception to the 1 metre permitted development limit. Saying that the hedge was insecure, difficult to maintain or allowed people to see into the garden does not make a 2 metre fence lawful.

Where planning permission is needed, the council will balance those concerns against the effect on the street scene, the open character of front gardens, highway visibility and the appearance of a long solid enclosure. A close-boarded fence can look much harder and more defensive than the soft green hedge it replaced. That contrast is often the reason retrospective applications are refused.

The absence of objections from neighbours does not make the fence acceptable, and other tall fences nearby only help if their planning circumstances and street context are genuinely comparable. The council must decide the particular proposal on its own planning merits.

Less harmful options may include:

• A fence or wall no higher than 1 metre with new hedge planting behind it
• Open metal railings rather than solid close-boarded panels
• Retaining part of the existing hedge and placing a lower fence behind it
• Grading the fence down towards the highway
• Moving a taller enclosure further into the site, where a site-specific assessment shows it would no longer be adjacent to the highway

 

What happens if the 2 metre fence is already in place?

 

The council may investigate after a complaint, a site visit or simply because an officer notices the work. Erecting a fence outside the limits of Class A without planning permission is a breach of planning control.

The council might invite a retrospective planning application, but that is not a hint that permission will be granted. Government planning enforcement guidance confirms that a retrospective application must be considered in the normal way. If the fence is unacceptable because of its height, solid appearance, effect on the street scene or highway safety, the application can be refused and enforcement action can follow.

If permission is refused, our guide to what to do after a planning application is refused explains the main options, including an appeal or a revised, lower design.

An enforcement notice may require the fence to be reduced, altered or removed. Do not ignore a notice: the appeal deadline stated on it is strict. Our planning enforcement guide explains the process. If the council has already contacted you, use our enforcement enquiry page.

Before applying retrospectively, it is worth checking:

• The precise fence height measured from the relevant ground level
• Whether the boundary is adjacent to a highway used by vehicular traffic
• Whether a planning condition or Article 4 direction has removed Class A rights
• Whether the property or boundary is listed
• Whether a lower, more open or landscaped design would have a better prospect of approval

Photographs of the former hedge, the wider street, nearby boundary treatments and highway visibility can all be important. But the best time to resolve these points is before the hedge is removed and the new fence is ordered.

 

What does a fence planning application cost?

 

If it is permitted development, then there is no fee, unless you apply for an optional certificate of lawfulness. There is normally a planning application fee for a fence that does not comply with permitted development. The amount is set nationally and changes from time to time, so check our current planning fees page before applying. A retrospective application still attracts the relevant fee; putting the fence up first does not make the application free.

You may also need scaled drawings and, where the street scene is the main issue, clear photographs or a short design statement explaining the proposed boundary treatment.

 

Frequently asked questions

 

Can I plant a hedge in front of an unauthorised 2 metre fence?

Planting may soften the appearance over time, but it does not make the fence permitted development. The planning breach remains unless permission is granted, the fence is altered to comply or it becomes lawful through the passage of the relevant enforcement period.

Can I put the fence just behind the pavement?

A small set-back does not automatically avoid the 1 metre rule. If the fence still reads as the boundary between the property and the highway, it may remain adjacent as a matter of fact and degree.

Does the rule apply beside a private road?

It can. Whether the route is a highway and whether it is used by vehicular traffic are separate questions from who owns or maintains it. Do not rely on the road being unadopted or privately maintained without checking its legal status.

Would a 2 metre fence be easier to approve on a busy road?

Possibly, where there is convincing evidence about noise, privacy or safety and the design is well related to its surroundings. Even then, the council may prefer a lower wall, railings, planting or a set-back enclosure. Busy-road security is not an automatic trump card.

 

Planning Geek can help

 

We can check whether the 1 metre highway rule applies, review the planning history and advise on a design, application or enforcement response. This is often much cheaper to resolve before a mature hedge and several new fence panels have both disappeared into a skip.

Other Common Projects

 

 

 

Replace a Hedge With a Fence Page Updated: 25th August 2026