← All guides · Rules & boundary law · October 2026

Accessing a neighbour's land to maintain your boundary hedge in Gravesend: the Access to Neighbouring Land Act 1992.

You own the hedge. You have a right to maintain it. But the back face, the side facing your neighbour's garden, cannot be reached without stepping onto their land, and they have refused permission. This is a practical problem in many Gravesend and Northfleet gardens, and there is a specific piece of legislation that addresses it directly before you call a contractor or start a boundary dispute.

What the law says

The Access to Neighbouring Land Act 1992 came into force on 31 January 1993. Before it existed, entering a neighbour's land without their consent was a trespass, even to maintain your own property. The Act changed that by allowing a property owner to apply to the County Court for an "access order" authorising them to enter and remain on adjacent land for the purpose of carrying out works on their own property. There is no council process, no planning authority and no fee to any local body: it is a direct civil court application.

Under section 1 of the Act, the court may make an access order if it is satisfied that two conditions are met:

1. The works are reasonably necessary for the preservation of the applicant's land (or of any existing structure on it).
2. The works would be impossible, or substantially more difficult to carry out, without entry onto the neighbouring land.

Section 1(4) defines the types of work that qualify as "basic preservation works" for this purpose. The list expressly includes the treatment, cutting back, felling, removal or replacement of any hedge, tree, shrub or other growing thing on the applicant's land. Regular cutting and maintenance of a boundary hedge that you own falls within this definition: it is preservation work on your own land, and if the back face cannot practically be reached without stepping next door, the second condition is also satisfied.

The statute uses "adjoining or adjacent land" for the neighbour's property, and "the applicant's land" for the property being maintained. The neighbour is the respondent. Both the owner and the occupier of the neighbouring land are parties to the application, so if the neighbour rents out the property, both the landlord and the tenant must be served with notice of the application.

The steps before applying to court

1. Confirm who owns the hedge

Before doing anything, establish that you own the hedge. A hedge planted entirely within your boundary, or one where the T-mark on the title plan faces your land, is generally yours. A hedge that straddles the boundary or where ownership is unclear needs to be resolved first: the court will not grant an access order to maintain a hedge you cannot show is yours to maintain. Start with the title register at HM Land Registry. See the boundary hedge ownership guide for the full four-step check.

2. Write to the neighbour first

The court expects evidence that you sought agreement before making an application. A short written letter or email setting out what work needs doing, why you need temporary access to their garden, the approximate duration, and your offer to make good any damage to their lawn or planting, is the right starting point. Keep a copy. Many access disputes are resolved here without any court involvement. If the neighbour responds unreasonably or simply fails to reply within a reasonable period, that correspondence becomes evidence in support of the court application.

3. Serve written notice of the application

When agreement cannot be reached, the Act requires that the owner and any occupier of the neighbouring land are served with written notice before the application is made. Both must be named as respondents if they are different people. The notice should describe the land in question, the works proposed, and the access being sought. A solicitor experienced in property law will draft this for you; given the cost of court proceedings relative to a one-off solicitor's letter, getting this step right the first time is worth the fee.

4. Apply to the County Court

The application is made at the County Court for the area in which the neighbouring land is situated. For a Gravesend or Northfleet property, that will be the County Court sitting at Medway or Dartford, depending on the current circuit arrangement. The application sets out the works required, why they cannot be done without access, and why the access would not unreasonably affect the respondent. Court application fees are set by HMCTS and change periodically: confirm the current fee directly with the court before filing. A solicitor is not strictly required, but for access disputes involving established boundaries in Gravesham, professional advice before filing is strongly advisable.

5. The court hearing and what the order provides

If the respondent contests the application, both parties attend a hearing. If they do not contest it, the court may make the order on the papers. The order the court makes will specify:

• the exact works permitted;
• the period during which access may be taken (typically the time reasonably needed to complete the works);
• any obligations on the applicant, including making good any damage caused to the respondent's land;
• any compensation payable to the respondent for loss of quiet enjoyment during the access period.

The court has wide powers over the terms of the order. In Prime London Holdings 11 Ltd v Thurloe Lodge Ltd [2022] EWHC 303 (Ch), the first High Court judgment on the Act, the court confirmed that the works do not need to be urgent to qualify as "reasonably necessary", and set out a structured approach to the questions the court must address. That decision arose from a London property dispute involving structural repair works, but its statement of the legal test applies equally to hedge maintenance access orders.

How this applies to a typical Gravesend garden boundary

Many properties in Gravesend's DA11 and DA12 postcode areas are semi-detached or terraced, with narrow side passages and gardens that share long boundary runs. A privet, leylandii or laurel hedge planted close to a fence line will often have its back face overhanging the neighbouring garden within a few years if left untrimmed. Once a reasonable height and width are reached, the back face genuinely cannot be cut from the owner's side without a ladder reaching into the neighbour's airspace or a contractor stepping across.

In Gravesham's conservation areas, the picture can be more complicated still: if the hedge contains or is adjacent to any tree with a stem over 75mm in diameter at 1.5 metres, a section 211 six-week notice to Gravesham Borough Council is required before the hedge work begins, independently of any access order. Check the conservation area map before applying for the access order so you know all the notices that will be needed before work starts.

For rural boundary hedges in the Gravesham villages, including Higham, Chalk, Shorne, Cobham and Meopham, an additional check applies: if the hedge is a qualifying rural hedgerow under the Hedgerow Regulations 1997, removal or substantial alteration requires a 42-day prior notification to Gravesham Borough Council. Access to maintain an existing rural hedgerow does not typically require that notification, but it is worth checking the hedgerow's status before instructing work that involves significant cutting-back.

Sources: Access to Neighbouring Land Act 1992 (legislation.gov.uk); Prime London Holdings 11 Ltd v Thurloe Lodge Ltd [2022] EWHC 303 (Ch) (judiciary.gov.uk); Wildlife and Countryside Act 1981, section 1 (legislation.gov.uk); HM Courts & Tribunals Service, county court civil application guidance (gov.uk/courts-tribunals); Town and Country Planning Act 1990, section 211, conservation area notice requirements (legislation.gov.uk); Hedgerow Regulations 1997 (legislation.gov.uk).