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Overgrown properties

As a property owner, you are responsible for ensuring that your property is maintained, and it doesn’t provide a place for vermin to live and breed. This means keeping your property free of long grass, vegetation, and waste.

Problems between neighbours about overgrown or untidy properties are matters that property owners should resolve. Council may help to investigate overgrown or untidy properties by providing advice and possible solutions to affected landowners. If there is no threat to public health and safety, we have limited powers to intervene.

Definition of an overgrown property

  • The property is in a built-up urban area.
  • The property is likely to be harbourage for, or is home to, vermin, and/or is likely to create unsafe or unhealthy conditions that impact on others. Vermin does not include any native fauna. Evidence of vermin can include rodent sightings, faeces, nests, runs, eggs etc.
  • If you're concerned that the condition of the vegetation on a property poses a fire hazard, contact the Rural Fire Service (RFS) Fire Centre on 02 4474 2855 or the NSW Fire and Rescue Zone Office for action. You can also report your concerns of the bushfire risk to the property direct to the RFS for assessment.
  • An 'untidy' property does not necessarily mean that the property is unsafe or a public health risk.
  • This process can take up to four months or more before a final outcome is achieved.

Talk to your neighbours

Often property owners are unaware their lack of property maintenance is causing a problem, and are usually happy to address the problem after you notify them.

We encourage you to talk to your neighbour about the problem to find a suitable solution. Please note we are unable to provide property contact details.

What we can do

If you contact us, we will take these steps:

  1. If we don't consider the property to be a fire risk, we'll inspect and assess the property to determine whether it's overgrown or untidy. We will then send an initial letter to the property owner advising them of the concerns raised about their property, and the requirement to remove vegetation within 28 days. If the property is not a public health and safety risk, this letter is considered a courtesy letter only, and no further action is likely to be taken.
  2. If at the end of the 28-day period the property works have not been completed, you should let us know. A ranger will then inspect and assess the property again. If we confirm the overgrown nature of the property, we may issue a reinspection fee to the property owner with a second letter providing a further 14 days to carry out the works.
  3. If the property owner fails to comply, we may take formal enforcement action. If we do not consider the property to be unhealthy or unsafe, we will advise you that we're unable to help you further.

More information

Contact us

If you have an enquiry about an overgrown property, please contact our rangers: