No municipal regulations, so is everything allowed?

Questioner

My question, after having delved into the matter a bit, is: Have I understood correctly that the national legal regulations are enforced unless local/municipal regulations have been established? These are rules for front garden vegetation. According to my information, a permit must be granted for a hedge in the front garden according to the national regulations, similar to the rules for a building. We and our neighbours are tenants of the same housing association. According to the housing association, we are not allowed to cut the hedge that is on the property line in our front garden to 1 metre because there are no regulations in this area and therefore any length of hedge in the front garden would be permitted. The hedge, a tall beech hedge, not only deprives us of light in the front garden, but even more importantly, of all view, which makes us feel very closed in in our own home. The neighbours also allow their conifer hedge on the street side to grow unchecked, now reaching a length of about 3 metres. We cannot reach an agreement with the neighbours, they do not want to talk to us to reach a compromise and do not cooperate with Neighbourhood Mediation.

Lawyer

A hedge is not a dividing wall: the law gives neighbours the right to always enforce that they cooperate in the construction of a dividing wall on the property boundary, even if this means that an old beech hedge has to disappear. You could have me draw up a letter in which everything is legally explained and give your neighbours the option, for example, to keep the hedge under conditions of shortening instead of a dividing wall. Incidentally, a hedge on the property boundary is jointly owned (of you together) and you certainly have something to say about it. You have the same rights and can also enforce them as the owner/landlord.

Lawyer

To answer your actual question, if that wasn't clear; no, a permit is not required to plant a hedge at the legal level. Incidentally, it is not allowed at the local level either. The law sets rules on distances to the property boundary and maximum height if that distance is not respected. Two meters for trees and 0.5 for shrubs.