There is no single national Tree Preservation Order map — TPOs are made and held separately by each local planning authority. So to check whether a tree is protected, you first need to know which council covers the address. Enter your postcode below and we'll point you to the right register and show what tree-related planning activity PlanWatch is tracking there.
Why there's no national map — and why that matters
TPOs are made under Part VIII of the Town and Country Planning Act 1990, with the operational detail set by the Town and Country Planning (Tree Preservation) (England) Regulations 2012. Critically, each order is made and administered by the individual local planning authority in whose area the tree stands. There is no central government database, no single searchable map, and no national helpline that can tell you whether a particular tree is protected. That is the number-one thing to grasp: the answer lives with your council, and only your council.
This is exactly why a postcode is the right starting point. It resolves the address to the correct authority, which is the gatekeeper of the only register that counts.
How to check for a TPO — step by step
- Identify the local planning authority for the postcode. In two-tier areas this is normally the district or borough council, not the county.
- Search the council's TPO register or online map. Most authorities publish one; many now offer an interactive map you can zoom to a specific property boundary.
- Check conservation-area status at the same time. Trees in a conservation area are separately protected even without a TPO (see below), so a "no TPO" result is only half the picture.
- Get a definitive answer from the tree officer. Registers are not always perfectly up to date, and boundaries on a map can be ambiguous for a specific tree. A short written enquiry to the council's tree officer — and their written reply — is the gold-standard confirmation. Our guide on how to check if a tree has a TPO walks through each source.
Once you know your council, search their register. If a tree is protected — or sits in a conservation area — you'll need written consent before most work, and a BS5837 survey if the tree affects a development.
Three separate protections to check for
A single check should actually cover three overlapping regimes, because any one of them can protect a tree:
| Protection | What triggers it | What you must do |
|---|---|---|
| Tree Preservation Order | The council has made a specific order on the tree, group, area or woodland | Apply for written consent (8-week decision) before any works |
| Conservation area | The tree stands in a designated conservation area and has no TPO | Give the council 6 weeks' written notice (section 211) before works |
| Planning condition | An existing permission on the site conditions tree protection | Comply with the tree protection plan and method statement |
A "clear" TPO register result is therefore only the first of three boxes to tick.
What a TPO actually protects
A TPO can cover an individual tree, a group, an area of trees, or a whole woodland. Where a tree is covered, the order prohibits cutting it down, topping, lopping, uprooting, and any wilful damage or destruction — including cutting roots — without the council's written consent. That root clause catches builders out: severing roots inside a root protection area during construction counts as "damage". To carry out works you apply for consent on a standard form; the council has eight weeks to decide, consent once granted is generally valid for two years, and a refusal can be appealed to the Planning Inspectorate under Regulation 19. The full mechanics are in our complete guide to Tree Preservation Orders.
Conservation areas: protection without a TPO
A "no TPO" result does not mean a tree is fair game. Trees in a conservation area that aren't already under a TPO get their own protection through a section 211 notice: you must give the council six weeks' written notice before most works. Those six weeks let the council make a TPO if it wants to keep the tree; if it doesn't object, you may proceed within two years of the notice. A section 211 notice is not an application that can be "refused" — the council either makes an order or lets the clock run out. Our guide to TPOs versus conservation-area trees explains the difference in full. So always check both the TPO register and whether the address falls in a conservation area.
What happens if you get it wrong
Unauthorised work to a protected tree is a criminal offence, and the penalties are real:
- Destroying a protected tree — a fine of up to £20,000 in the Magistrates' Court, or an unlimited fine in the Crown Court.
- Lesser breaches (such as unauthorised pruning that doesn't destroy the tree) — fines up to £2,500.
- Courts specifically weigh any financial benefit gained — a cleared plot worth more for development, for example.
- A duty to plant a replacement tree can be imposed on top of the fine.
"I didn't know it had a TPO" is a weak defence, which is precisely why a five-minute check first is worth it. The exemptions are narrow: genuinely dead trees (with five working days' prior notice) and urgent works to remove an immediate danger — the 2012 Regulations scrapped the old "dead, dying or dangerous" wording, so a merely dying or dangerous-looking tree is no longer automatically exempt. See TPO fines and penalties and, if you're purchasing, buying a house with a TPO.
Worked scenario: a TPO you inherit
Consider a couple buying a 1930s semi with a large oak near the rear boundary, planning a single-storey extension. The estate agent says nothing about trees. A quick check of the district council's online map shows the oak sits inside an area TPO made in the 1970s covering the whole original plot — protection they will inherit on completion. That changes the project in three ways. First, the oak's root protection area — a 550mm stem gives a 6.6m radius — reaches under the proposed extension footprint, so the design has to move or use special foundations. Second, they'll need a BS5837 survey and an arboricultural impact assessment to validate the planning application. Third, if a previous owner had ever lopped that oak without consent, the breach could theoretically follow the tree. Fifteen minutes on the register before exchange reframed the whole purchase — which is why buying a house with a TPO is worth reading before you commit.
How a TPO fits into a development
Where a protected tree affects a build, remember the three obligations run in parallel and don't substitute for one another. Planning permission does not grant TPO consent — there is only a narrow exemption for works needed to implement a full permission, and it is not a blanket right. So a typical scheme near a TPO tree involves: a BS5837 survey and AIA to get the application validated; a separate consent application for any works to the protected tree itself; and, after permission, discharge of any pre-commencement condition requiring a final tree protection plan. Confusing "I have planning permission" with "I can work on the tree" is one of the most expensive mistakes homeowners make.
Registers are local — so is everything else
Because TPOs, conservation-area designations and validation requirements are all held and applied locally, two neighbouring councils can behave quite differently: one district may have blanket woodland TPOs and extensive conservation areas, another very few. That is why the only reliable check is against your own authority's register, and why the tree officer's view is decisive on a borderline tree. PlanWatch tracks live tree-related planning activity per council, so you can also see how protected trees are being handled near you — browse examples in Lambeth, Nottingham and Leeds, or search your own postcode.
A word on the registers themselves: they can lag reality. A council can make a new TPO at short notice — including within the six-week window after a section 211 notice — so a "clear" result from last month is not a guarantee today, and a written confirmation from the tree officer is worth getting immediately before any works rather than weeks ahead. Councils also vary hugely in coverage: one district may blanket its woodlands and conservation areas in orders while a neighbour has very few, so never assume a tree is unprotected because a nearby property's was.
One note on nations: this guidance is England-centric. Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland run parallel but distinct tree-protection regimes — see TPOs in Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland before relying on it elsewhere.
Check your postcode
Enter your postcode above to find your local planning authority, jump to the right TPO register, and see the tree-related planning activity PlanWatch is tracking in your area. Then read the full guide to Tree Preservation Orders for what protection actually means for your project — or, if you're planning works, start with do I need a tree survey for planning.