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🏡 Neighbour Disputes Guide
What Are My Rights in a Neighbour Dispute in Scotland?
Talking and mediation, noise and the council, high hedge notices, overhanging trees, antisocial behaviour and the police.
✅ Last verified: 25 September 2026📚 Sources: listed at the end, each checked on the date shown🇬🇧 Scotland
Who this guide is for
People in Scotland who have a problem with a neighbour: noise or another nuisance, a high hedge, branches or roots coming over from next door, where the boundary is or a fence, CCTV or doorbell cameras, Japanese knotweed, or antisocial behaviour. It covers the steps to take first, what the council and the police can do, and when court is the last resort.
A problem with your own landlord, such as repairs or a notice to leave your home: use the tenant rights checker.
Who owns or must repair a fence or wall, and building work next door: ask Citizens Advice Scotland or a solicitor.
Planning permission, including how high a fence or wall can be and extensions: ask your council's planning department.
Right to light, rights of way, claiming against a neighbour over knotweed or other invasive plants, and claiming money for damage caused by a neighbour's tree or hedge: ask Citizens Advice Scotland or a solicitor.
Court orders to stop harassment: ask a solicitor.
Appeals against a council's high hedge decision: the decision explains any right of appeal. This guide does not cover them.
The amount of any fine, fee or compensation. This guide gives no amounts.
⚖ At a glance
Try to sort it out informally first: speak to your neighbour, or write to them and keep a copy. If your neighbour rents their home, you can talk to their landlord.
Mediation can help: mediators are independent and listen to both sides to help you reach an agreement.
Noise: contact your council, usually the environmental health department. If the council decides there is a statutory nuisance, it can serve a notice requiring the neighbour to stop the problem.
A high hedge (a row of 2 or more trees or shrubs, more than 2 metres tall, forming a barrier to light): you can apply to the council for a high hedge notice, after taking all reasonable steps to resolve it yourself.
You can cut back branches and roots that come onto your property, but only up to the boundary.
Threats, violence or harassment: do not approach your neighbour. Contact the police or your council.
The questions that decide the answer
Where do you live? Scotland: this guide. England, Wales or Northern Ireland: see that nation's guide.
What is the problem? Noise or another nuisance, a high hedge, trees or roots, the boundary or a fence, CCTV or doorbell cameras, Japanese knotweed, or antisocial behaviour. Each has its own route below. Building work next door is not covered.
Has your neighbour threatened you, been violent or harassed you? Yes: do not approach them; contact the police or your council. No: start with the informal steps.
Does your neighbour rent their home? Yes: you can also talk to their landlord, which could be the council, a housing association or a private landlord.
What have you already tried? A high hedge application must include evidence of the steps you took to resolve it first.
First steps: talk, write, landlord, mediation
If you feel comfortable, speak to your neighbour. Take a note of the time and date you spoke to them, in case you need it as evidence later.
If you have not been able to speak to them, write a letter. Describe the problem and the action you would like them to take. Keep a copy of any letter you send. You can use our free noise letter to a neighbour.
If your neighbour is a council or housing association tenant, contact a housing officer or the housing department. They could contact your neighbour, take steps to end the tenancy, or apply to court for an antisocial behaviour order.
A residents' or tenants' association may support you. If more people complain, the conflict is less personal.
Mediation: you can find a trained mediator through Scottish Mediation. SACRO also provides community mediation services. You might have to pay for mediation, depending on the provider; tell them if you are on a low income.
The council can help to solve disputes between neighbours, even if the neighbours do not live in council housing.
Noise and other nuisances: the council
Contact your council's environmental health department about noise, rubbish, smells, leaks or insects coming from a neighbour's home. An officer will usually contact your neighbour and try to reach a solution.
If the council decides there is a statutory nuisance, it can serve an abatement notice on your neighbour requiring them to stop or limit the problem. If the notice is not complied with, the person responsible can be prosecuted and fined in the sheriff court.
Antisocial noise: councils that have adopted Part 5 of the Antisocial Behaviour etc. (Scotland) Act 2004 work with Police Scotland to investigate noise, tell the person to reduce it and, in some cases, give a fixed penalty notice or seize the noise-making equipment.
The police also have powers to deal with excessive noise. They might fine people who have not stopped making excessive noise after being asked to, or take away the equipment. Call 101 if it is not an emergency.
Building work noise: each council has recommended times for building work. Contact your council to find out when it is allowed.
Keep a diary of the dates, times and type of noise. The council may ask for it, or use equipment to record the noise.
High hedges
The High Hedges (Scotland) Act 2013 came into force on 1 April 2014. It lets the owner or occupier of a home apply to the council for a high hedge notice.
A high hedge is formed wholly or mainly by a row of 2 or more trees or shrubs, rises to more than 2 metres above ground level, and forms a barrier to light. Gaps that significantly reduce its effect as a barrier above 2 metres mean it does not count.
All types of hedge are covered, whether evergreen, semi-evergreen or deciduous.
Single trees are not covered, well-spaced lines of trees are not generally a hedge, and the roots are not taken into account.
You must take all reasonable steps to resolve the problem before you apply, for example talking or writing to the hedge owner or mediation, and send evidence of those steps with your application.
A fee is payable. Each council sets its own fee and publishes when it will refund it.
Trees and roots from next door
The owner of a tree or hedge has no general duty to cut or prune it, however much a neighbour objects.
You may cut back branches and roots that come onto your property, but only up to the boundary. It is courteous to ask the owner first.
If the tree is protected by a tree preservation order or is in a conservation area, permission is needed before any work. Check with the council first.
The branches you remove, and any fruit on them, belong to the tree's owner and should be offered back. If the owner does not want them, you must dispose of them responsibly.
Do not leave the tree unstable or dangerous: you could be liable for damage it causes later.
If your neighbour will not deal with a tree that is affecting your property, ask a solicitor.
Boundaries and fences
The Land Register map for a property shows its registered extent, usually with a red line. Older deeds in the Register of Sasines may describe the boundaries in words, and many have no plan.
If you and your neighbour disagree about where the boundary is, or about a fence or wall on it, Registers of Scotland recommends getting legal advice. Citizens Advice Scotland or a solicitor can help.
How high a fence or wall can be is a planning question: ask your council's planning department.
The Party Wall etc. Act 1996 is England and Wales law and does not apply in Scotland.
CCTV and doorbell cameras
If a neighbour's CCTV or doorbell camera records beyond their own property boundary, data protection law applies and there are rules they must follow.
You can ask the owner for a copy of footage you are in. In most cases they should reply within one calendar month. You can also ask them to delete footage you are in, and object to them recording you.
You can complain to the Information Commissioner's Office (ICO). But in most cases the ICO cannot make the owner delete recordings, move or remove the camera, or get footage for you.
If the camera is part of wider behaviour that makes you feel harassed, you can report it to the police, or to your neighbour's landlord if they rent. The ICO says the police are unlikely to treat CCTV on its own as harassment.
Japanese knotweed
It is an offence to plant, or otherwise cause to grow, any plant in the wild outside its native range. If Japanese knotweed spreads into the wild, that is an offence.
If you have knotweed, make sure it does not spread off your land, and check you have the right permissions before any control work.
If it spreads onto a neighbour's land and causes a nuisance, and you cannot agree what to do, SEPA says to get advice from a solicitor.
Antisocial behaviour, harassment and the police
Do not approach your neighbour if they have acted with threats, violence or harassment. Contact your council or the police instead: 999 in an emergency, 101 if it is not an emergency.
Record the dates and times of the behaviour and the effect it has on you, for example if you cannot sleep because of noise.
If your neighbour rents from the council or a housing association, the landlord can take court action, including applying for an antisocial behaviour order. Contact your council's antisocial behaviour team to find out more.
Repairs to shared parts of a tenement
This is for flat owners. In Scotland a tenement is any building with two or more flats divided from each other horizontally, not only a traditional tenement with a common stair.
Your title deeds usually say who must look after shared parts, such as the roof, outside walls and foundations, and how the costs are shared. If the title deeds say nothing, are unclear or contradict your neighbour's, the Tenement Management Scheme in the Tenements (Scotland) Act 2004 fills the gap. If the title deeds are clear, you must follow them.
Under the Tenement Management Scheme, owners make decisions about maintenance by voting, with one vote for each flat. The costs are shared equally, except that a part only some flats use is paid for by the owners of those flats, and if the biggest flat is more than one and a half times the floor area of the smallest, the costs are split so the owner of the larger flat pays more.
Challenging a scheme decision, time limits and getting an owner to pay their share: this guide does not cover them. Ask Citizens Advice Scotland or a solicitor.
Going to court
Court is the last resort. For a claim for money, see the simple procedure guide for Scotland. For anything else, ask Citizens Advice Scotland or a solicitor.
Deadlines
This guide gives no deadlines for Scotland. Ask Citizens Advice Scotland or a solicitor about any time limit, including for a court claim.
Money figures
This guide gives no money figures. It cannot tell you the amount of any fine, fee or compensation. High hedge application fees are set by each council.
Where to go for help
Your council: environmental health (noise and other nuisances), high hedge notices, protected trees and antisocial behaviour.
Police Scotland: 999 in an emergency, 101 if it is not an emergency.
Mediation: Scottish Mediation, SACRO community mediation, or your council.
Citizens Advice Scotland: 0800 028 1456
Traps
Scotland's high hedge law covers deciduous hedges too. The England and Wales law covers only mostly evergreen or semi-evergreen hedges.
Scotland's antisocial noise powers come from the Antisocial Behaviour etc. (Scotland) Act 2004, where the council has adopted them. The Noise Act 1996 does not apply in Scotland.
The Party Wall etc. Act 1996 and the ASB Case Review (Community Trigger) are England and Wales rules. They do not apply in Scotland.
Cutting a neighbour's tree beyond the boundary, or cutting a protected tree without permission, can get you into trouble even though the branches overhang your land.
Employment tribunal time limits never apply to neighbour disputes.
📜 Sources (checked 25 September 2026)
Citizens Advice Scotland (citizensadvice.org.uk/scotland): How to resolve a neighbour dispute (speak to your neighbour and note the time and date; write a letter describing the problem and the action you would like, keep a copy; do not approach a neighbour who has acted with threats, violence or harassment, contact the council or police; council or housing association landlord can contact the neighbour, take steps to end the tenancy or apply for an antisocial behaviour order; residents' or tenants' association; Scottish Mediation and SACRO community mediation, may have to pay, low income; council can help even if not council housing; environmental health for noise, rubbish, odours, leaks and insects; statutory nuisance notice). Checked 25 Sep 2026. RECHECK against mygov.scot before the deploy.
Citizens Advice Scotland: Neighbour noise and abusive behaviour (noise notice then fixed penalty notice; police powers to fine or confiscate equipment; councils' recommended times for building work; home CCTV guidance from the Information Commissioner's Office). Checked 25 Sep 2026.
Falkirk Council: Noise nuisance (keep a diary; noise monitoring equipment; Abatement Notice for a statutory nuisance; prosecution and fine in the Sheriff Court). Argyll and Bute Council with Police Scotland: antisocial noise under Part 5 of the Antisocial Behaviour etc. (Scotland) Act 2004 where adopted (investigate, tell the person to reduce the noise, fixed penalty notice or seizure of equipment). Shelter Scotland: Police Scotland non-emergency 101. Blaby Council: Noise Act 1996 does not apply in Scotland. Checked 25 Sep 2026.
Aberdeen City, Orkney, East Lothian, Perth and Kinross and East Dunbartonshire councils: High Hedges (Scotland) Act 2013 (in force 1 April 2014; high hedge notice; row of 2 or more trees or shrubs, more than 2 metres, barrier to light, gaps; evergreen, semi-evergreen or deciduous all covered; single trees not covered; well-spaced tree lines not generally a hedge; roots not taken into account; all reasonable steps first with evidence; fee set by the council; refund circumstances published). Checked 25 Sep 2026.
Fife Council (Getting to the Root of the Issue, April 2025), Highland Council and Glasgow City Council: neighbours' trees (no obligation on the owner to prune; cut branches and roots to the boundary; tree preservation order or conservation area needs permission first; offer cuttings and fruit back, otherwise dispose responsibly; do not leave the tree unstable, possible liability; solicitor if the neighbour will not act). Checked 25 Sep 2026.
GOV.UK: Resolving neighbour disputes, Use a mediation service (Scottish Mediation Network for Scotland). Checked 25 Sep 2026.
mygov.scot: Tenement Management Scheme and repairs (when the scheme applies, scheme property, one vote per property, equal shares with the part-use and one-and-a-half-times floor area exceptions); gov.scot Repairing Standard statutory guidance 7.3 (a tenement is any building with two or more flats divided from each other horizontally) (checked 26 Sep 2026)
Registers of Scotland (ros.gov.uk): Property boundaries (the map shows the registered extent of the property, boundaries generally shown with a red line; Sasine deeds may describe the boundaries, many have no plan; take legal advice if you think there are problems with your boundaries); checked 11 Oct 2026
ICO (ico.org.uk): Domestic CCTV systems - guidance for people being filmed (data protection law applies if CCTV records beyond the owner's boundary; ask for a copy of footage, usually a reply within one calendar month; ask for deletion; object; the ICO must consider complaints (DPA 2018 s.165) but in most cases cannot force deletion, repositioning or removal, or retrieve footage; harassment: police, housing officer or the neighbour's landlord; police unlikely to treat CCTV alone as harassment; guidance under review because of the Data (Use and Access) Act); page dated 30 Sep 2026; checked 11 Oct 2026
legislation.gov.uk: Wildlife and Countryside Act 1981 s.14(2) (Scotland version: offence to plant or otherwise cause to grow any plant in the wild at a place outwith its native range); up to date to 3 Oct 2026; checked 11 Oct 2026
SEPA (sepa.org.uk): Invasive non-native species (s.14 as amended by the Wildlife and Natural Environment (Scotland) Act 2011; knotweed spreading into the wild is an offence; ensure it does not spread off your land; check permissions before control work; if it spreads onto a neighbour's land and causes a nuisance and no agreement is possible, seek advice from a solicitor); checked 11 Oct 2026
💬 Check your own situation
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⚠ Important disclaimer: This guide covers neighbour disputes in Scotland as at 25 September 2026. General legal information only, not legal advice. ukworkrights.co.uk — Not a law firm.
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