How Much Does Tree Removal Cost in London and Surrey?

The Short Answer

Most domestic tree removals across London and Surrey fall between £380 and £1,900, with the majority of straightforward garden trees landing in the £400 to £900 band. The final figure depends far more on access, height, what is underneath the tree and how the arisings leave site than on the species itself, which is why no reputable firm can price a removal accurately without seeing it.

Indicative price ranges by job type

The ranges below reflect what we typically quote for domestic work across our coverage area. They assume reasonable access, no protected status complications, and all waste removed from site. They are a planning guide, not a quotation — every job we take on is priced from a free site survey.

Commercial work, sites needing traffic management, and anything requiring a crane or extended MEWP hire sit outside these bands and are always priced individually.

• Small tree removal (up to 8m, open access): £250–£500
• Medium tree removal (8–15m, garden access): £450–£1,100
• Large tree removal (15m+, sectional dismantle): £900–£1,900+
• Crown reduction, mature tree: £350–£1,200
• Crown thinning or dead-wooding: £250–£750
• Stump grinding, single stump: £100–£400 depending on diameter and access
• Hedge reduction, per day with two operatives: £450–£750

The six factors that actually move the price

Access is the biggest single variable. A tree we can reach with a chipper parked on the drive costs a fraction of the same tree behind a terraced house where every section has to be carried through the hallway. Rear gardens with a side gate under a metre wide, gardens accessed only through a neighbour’s property, and steep or terraced plots all add labour hours.

What sits underneath the tree decides whether it can be felled in one piece or has to be dismantled in sections and lowered on ropes. Conservatories, greenhouses, garages, oil tanks, pond liners, boundary walls and overhead power cables all push a job toward the sectional method, which is slower and requires a bigger team.

Height, spread and stem diameter drive the volume of material and therefore both the climbing time and the disposal cost. A 20m Leyland cypress hedge row produces a startling amount of green waste relative to its footprint.

Equipment. Where a climb is unsafe — a dead or decayed stem, brittle species, or no suitable anchor points — a mobile elevating work platform is the correct call. MEWP hire is a real cost and should appear as its own line on your quote, as should any crane.

Waste. Removing all arisings from site is standard in our quotes. Leaving logs cut to length for a wood burner, or leaving chip on the beds as mulch, reduces the disposal element. Ask for both figures if you have a use for the material.

Permissions and parking. A Conservation Area notice or TPO application adds no fee but adds six to eight weeks. Parking suspensions and permits — common in Richmond, Wimbledon and inner London boroughs — are a genuine cost and should be itemised, never buried.

Why prices differ between areas

The same tree genuinely costs different amounts in different towns, and the reason is logistics rather than opportunism. Richmond and Twickenham sit at the higher end of our ranges because narrow riverside streets, controlled parking zones and a high density of protected trees mean more MEWP work, more permits and more paperwork. Epsom and Ewell tend to sit lower, because the interwar estates have driveway access and space to work.

Wimbledon splits in two: work off the common and around the Village frequently involves restricted access and parking suspensions, while the wider SW19 residential streets price much like the rest of south-west London. Croydon, Bromley and Kingston fall broadly in the middle, with the older housing stock in the conservation pockets pricing higher than the post-war suburbs.

Green waste disposal costs also vary by transfer station and by how far the crew has to travel to reach one, which is a quiet but real factor in the outer parts of Kent, West Sussex and Hampshire.

What should be included in a proper quote

A written quote should leave you in no doubt about what you are buying. Ours specifies the tree or trees by position and species, the exact work to be carried out in British Standard terms, the method, whether arisings are removed, what happens to the stump, and the total price with VAT status stated.

It should also evidence that the firm can carry the risk. Ask to see the public liability certificate — we carry £10m — along with employer’s liability cover and the relevant NPTC or City & Guilds certificates for chainsaw use, aerial rescue and, where relevant, MEWP operation. Any firm reluctant to show those documents should not be on your shortlist.

• Tree identified by species and position, with the specification written to BS3998:2010
• Method statement: straight fell, sectional dismantle, climb or MEWP
• Whether arisings, logs and chip are removed or left on site
• Stump treatment — ground out, treated, or left, with the grinding depth stated
• Permits, parking suspensions and MEWP hire itemised separately
• Public liability and employer’s liability cover, plus operative certification
• Total price, VAT position and payment terms in writing

How to compare three quotes fairly

Three quotes for the same tree can differ by hundreds of pounds without any of them being wrong, because they are frequently pricing different jobs. Before you compare the totals, line up the scope: does each one remove the waste, grind the stump, and use the same method? A quote that looks 30% cheaper often turns out to leave the arisings stacked in the garden and the stump in the ground.

The second check is insurance and certification. Tree work is one of the most dangerous trades in the country, and an uninsured operative injured in your garden, or a limb through your neighbour’s roof, becomes your problem in a way that a low headline price will not compensate for.

The third is what happens if the price changes. Our quotes are fixed once the survey is done; the only things that would alter the figure are work you add on the day or a defect that could not be seen from the ground. If a quote comes with vague language about “subject to conditions on site” and no explanation of what that means, ask for it in writing.

Where you can genuinely save money

Timing is the easiest lever. Winter is quieter for most tree surgeons in the South East, and it is also the correct season for a good deal of the work — deciduous trees are easier to assess with the leaves off, ground damage is manageable in a dry cold spell, and there are no nesting birds to work around.

Combining work saves real money. Mobilising a team, a chipper and a tipper to your address is a fixed cost whether they remove one tree or four. If you have a hedge that needs reducing and a tree that needs a crown lift, get them done in the same visit rather than six months apart.

Keeping the logs and the chip removes the disposal element. Talking to neighbours matters too: shared boundary trees and adjoining gardens that all need attention can often be done as a single mobilisation and split between households.

One thing not to economise on is the survey. Accepting a price quoted over the phone from a photograph, then discovering on the day that the access assumption was wrong, is the most common route to a job that costs more than the quote.

Related Pages

Questions Answered

Frequently Asked Questions