Tree Surveys in Surrey
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Tree surveys and arboricultural reports for planning applications, tree safety and property purchases across Surrey.
If you're extending or rebuilding a house in Surrey and the council has asked for tree information, you'll usually need a tree survey to BS5837:2012, and often an Arboricultural Impact Assessment to go with it. We produce both, along with the Tree Constraints Plan, and the Method Statement and Tree Protection Plan that councils commonly attach as conditions. Send us the site address and what you’ve been asked for, and we’ll send a free fixed-fee quote, usually within 12 hours.
England's most wooded county
Woodland covers around a fifth of Surrey, more than any other county in England, and about a quarter of that woodland is ancient. The Surrey Hills National Landscape runs across the middle of the county, and much of the rest is wooded countryside, heath and parkland.
Surrey's towns and suburbs grew up among those trees and kept many of them. Mature oak and beech are a normal part of residential gardens here, often standing on or near the boundary, and they are what the council will want to see accounted for when you apply.
With a quarter of Surrey's woodland classed as ancient, and plenty of it close to houses, it's common for a garden here to back onto it. National standing advice from Natural England and the Forestry Commission expects new development to keep at least 15 metres from the edge of ancient woodland. Where your site adjoins woodland, the survey records where that edge sits, so your design can allow for the buffer.
Extensions and rebuilds
Much of the work we're asked about in Surrey is on family homes: extending them, or replacing them with a new house on the same plot.
Extending your house
Most extensions go to the rear or side, which is usually where a garden's largest trees are. In Surrey that's often a mature oak or beech that is older than the house, or a line of trees along the boundary with next door. The survey measures each relevant tree, including the neighbour's, and plots its Root Protection Area: the area of ground around it where roots need protecting during construction.
That tells your architect where the extension can sit without affecting the trees, and where it would need a different approach, such as specialist foundations or no-dig construction for paths and drives. The Arboricultural Impact Assessment sets that out for the council.
Replacing a house
Replacing an older house on a large, well-treed plot is common across Surrey, from Virginia Water and Weybridge to Reigate and Oxted. On these sites the new footprint is often the easy part. Demolition, machinery access along a tree-lined drive, materials storage, scaffolding, drainage and new services all need space, and much of that space can fall within Root Protection Areas. Where the plot backs onto woodland, the ancient woodland buffer applies to all of it.
BS5837:2012 covers demolition as well as construction. The Method Statement and Tree Protection Plan set out where fencing and ground protection go and how each stage of the work is carried out near the trees, from demolition through to landscaping.
Professional arboricultural advice
Flow Tree Consultancy is an independent arboricultural consultancy. The same qualified consultant quotes the job, carries out the site visit and writes the report, so you deal directly with the person doing the work from first enquiry to final issue.
The consultancy is led by a qualified arboricultural consultant with:
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a First Class BSc (Hons) in Arboriculture and Urban Forestry
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a Level 3 Extended Diploma in Arboriculture and Forestry
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Professional Membership of the Arboricultural Association
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LANTRA Professional Tree Inspector certification
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VALID Tree Risk-Benefit Validator status
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a decade of industry experience across planning and development, mortgage and insurance work, tree safety assessments and practical arboriculture
We carry £1 million professional indemnity insurance and £5 million public liability insurance.
You can read more about our qualifications, experience and approach on the About page
Get a fast free quote for your project
Step 1: Details
Provide your site address and requirements.
Step 2: Review
We consider the site and the services required.
Step 3: Quote
Receive a quick fixed-fee quotation.
Step 4: Survey and report
Once you instruct us, we survey the site and issue the reports
Fill in the enquiry form, or email info@flowtrees.co.uk. Include the site address, any plans you have, and the wording of any request you've been given.
Tree condition and risk assessments in Surrey
Many Surrey properties have large, mature trees over drives, gardens, private roads and neighbouring land. That brings a duty of care for homeowners, and on a bigger scale for estates, schools, commercial sites and private residential estates that manage their own roads and verges.
We provide tree condition assessments and VALID Tree Risk-Benefit Assessments for individual garden trees and larger tree stocks. The advice is proportionate: what needs doing, what can wait, and what can be left as it is. We don’t carry out tree work ourselves, so that advice is independent.
For property purchases and lender queries, we also provide mortgage and pre-purchase tree reports.
Where we work in Surrey
We cover the whole county, including Guildford, Woking, Farnham, Godalming, Haslemere, Cranleigh, Camberley, Virginia Water, Egham, Staines, Weybridge, Walton-on-Thames, Cobham, Esher, Epsom, Leatherhead, Dorking, Reigate, Redhill, Caterham and Oxted.
Surrey's councils are changing. From 1 April 2027, two new councils, East Surrey and West Surrey, replace the eleven borough and district councils as the local planning authorities. Until then, applications go to your current borough or district council under its existing local plan, and the new councils inherit those plans. Whichever council handles your application decides what it needs, so send us anything you've been asked for and we'll quote for it.
Our tree surveys and reports in Surrey
If there are trees on or near a site you plan to build on, your council will usually expect tree information with the planning application. We carry out the BS5837 tree survey and write the reports that follow it: the Tree Constraints Plan, Arboricultural Impact Assessment, Arboricultural Method Statement and Tree Protection Plan. During construction, we can also provide arboricultural supervision.
Read more about our planning and development services.
For homeowners, schools, estates and anyone responsible for trees on their land, from a single tree to a whole site. A tree condition and risk assessment identifies the trees that need attention, the risk they pose and any work required, so you can meet your duty of care without removing trees unnecessarily.
Read more about our tree condition and risk assessments.
If you're buying a property with trees nearby, your lender or surveyor may ask for a tree report before the purchase goes ahead. Our mortgage and pre-purchase tree reports identify the trees within influencing distance of the building and what they mean for it. We also carry out subsidence and heave risk assessments for existing homeowners.
Read more about our mortgage tree reports and property risk.
FAQs
Often, yes. If trees on your site or next door could be affected by the work, councils commonly ask for a BS5837 survey and an Arboricultural Impact Assessment with the application. Your council decides what's required, so its validation checklist or your planning officer's comments are the thing to go by.
The survey records the trees and plots their constraints. The Arboricultural Impact Assessment takes your proposed design and assesses how it affects those trees, and what's needed to retain them. The survey comes first, and the assessment builds on it.
From 1 April 2027, East Surrey or West Surrey council, depending on where the property is. West Surrey covers Guildford, Runnymede, Spelthorne, Surrey Heath, Waverley and Woking. East Surrey covers Elmbridge, Epsom and Ewell, Mole Valley, Reigate and Banstead, and Tandridge. BS5837 is a national standard, so the survey itself doesn't change.
Yes. BS5837 covers demolition as well as construction, and the Method Statement and Tree Protection Plan set out how trees are protected at every stage, including while the old house comes down.
It can, whether or not the woodland is ancient. Trees along any woodland edge are surveyed like other trees, and their Root Protection Areas can be a constraint. If the woodland is ancient, national standing advice adds a buffer of at least 15 metres from its edge. The survey establishes which applies and where the edge sits.
If they're close enough to be affected by your work, or to constrain it, yes. Off-site trees are a normal part of a BS5837 survey.