EXPLANATORY NOTE

(This note is not part of the Regulations)

The High Hedges Act (Northern Ireland) 2011 gives local councils the power to deal with complaints about high hedges which are having an adverse impact on a neighbour’s reasonable enjoyment of their property.

A complaint may be made by the owner or occupier of a domestic property if that person’s reasonable enjoyment of the property is being adversely affected by the height of a hedge situated on land owned or occupied by another person.

A complaint must be made to the council in whose area the land on which the hedge is situated lies and must be accompanied by a fee determined by the local council (subject to a maximum amount prescribed in Regulations made by the Department of the Environment).

These Regulations prescribe that maximum amount.