How Much Does a Tree Survey Cost?

The three reasons a buyer ends up paying for one

The first is the lender. If the mortgage valuation notes a large tree close to the house, particularly on shrinkable clay, the lender may ask for an arboricultural report on the subsidence risk before it confirms the offer. Indigo prices that mortgage tree report at £250 to £450; Peter Yeates quotes around £600 for a subsidence-focused report depending on tree count. This is the same trigger that produces a structural engineer's report when cracking has already appeared.

The second is planning. If you are buying with an extension in mind and there are trees on or near the plot, the council will expect a BS5837 tree survey with the application: £295 to £760 for a simple garden per PlanWatch, rising to £400 to £1,500 or more once a constraints plan, impact assessment and protection plan are needed. The third is safety: a large or old tree overhanging the house, a neighbour's property or a road is a duty-of-care liability from the day you complete, and a condition survey at £300 to £800 tells you what needs doing.

Tree Preservation Orders and conservation areas

A tree survey does not tell you whether you are allowed to touch the tree. That is a planning question. A Tree Preservation Order (TPO) makes it an offence to fell, top, lop or uproot the tree without the council's consent, and every tree over a small trunk diameter in a conservation area needs six weeks' notice to the council before work. Indigo's guide notes fines can reach £20,000 per offence under the Town and Country Planning Act 1990.

HomeBuyerCheck's Premium report flags TPOs and conservation area designations from planning.data.gov.uk for the address, which is the first thing to check before you budget for either removing a tree or building near one. Our guide to buying in a conservation area covers the wider restrictions, including Article 4 directions.

What drives the price

• Tree count. PlanWatch's £295 to £500 bracket is a short site visit and a concise schedule; fifteen trees along two boundaries pushes into the £1,000 to £1,500 package.
• Which documents the council asks for. The survey alone is rarely enough for planning; the impact assessment and protection plan are separate deliverables.
• Purpose. A mortgage report answers one question about one or two trees; a condition survey inspects everything on the plot.
• Diagnostics. Decay detection with specialist equipment is £400 to £600 on top.
• Regional rates. Indigo notes most surveys start from £200, and travel adds to rural jobs.

How to save

• Ask the seller for any existing survey. A BS5837 report from a previous planning application, or an arboricultural report from an insurance claim, may still be usable.
• Check for TPOs and conservation area status before commissioning anything, so you do not pay for a survey of a tree you cannot remove or a scheme that will not get consent.
• Match the survey to the question. A lender's subsidence query needs a mortgage tree report, not a full BS5837 package.
• Combine the visit. An arboriculturalist can produce the condition survey and the planning survey from one site visit if you ask up front.
• Get the removal cost quoted at the same time if the report recommends felling. Indigo's guide gives £240 to £340 for a small tree and £1,190 or more for a large one, plus £160 to £710 for stump removal, which is the number that matters for the negotiation.