Planning Appeal Process in London

A refusal is not the end of the road, but the clock starts the day it is issued and it does not stop. Two decisions matter: whether to amend or appeal, and getting the appeal in before the deadline. Everything else is detail.

First, read the refusal

Every refusal lists the council's reasons for refusal, and those reasons decide your route. A reason that turns on a measurement, a material, an obscured window or a missing report is a detail problem, and a redesign will fix it. A reason that says the proposal is contrary to a named local plan policy on character, amenity or overdevelopment is a policy disagreement, and no amount of redrawing will resolve it. Read them as a list of things you must either change or argue against.

The officer's report, published on the borough's planning register alongside the decision, usually explains the reasoning in far more detail than the notice itself. Read it before you decide anything.

Amend and resubmit

Resubmitting is the fastest route where the refusal reasons are fixable, because a householder application is decided in 8 weeks against a householder appeal that typically runs to several months. The catch is cost. The free repeat application in England was abolished in December 2023 and has not been reinstated, so a resubmitted householder scheme costs a further £548 plus the Planning Portal service charge of £75.83 plus VAT, and any redesign fees.

Before you resubmit, ask the case officer whether the revised scheme would overcome the reasons for refusal. Officers will usually say, and it is a free conversation.

Appeal to the Planning Inspectorate

An appeal goes to the Planning Inspectorate, an independent national body, and is decided by an inspector who redetermines the application on its planning merits. It does not go back to the council. Appealing costs nothing to lodge. What kills appeals is the deadline, which is a hard cut-off with no discretion: your appeal and the essential supporting documents must reach the Inspectorate by the last day, not be posted on it.

Which procedure will your appeal follow?

Almost all householder appeals are decided by written representations, which is the fastest of the three routes and the only one most homeowners will meet. The inspector reads the papers, visits the site, and issues a written decision. From April 2026 there is an expedited written representations route in which the council has just five working days to respond, on the basis that no new evidence is introduced.

• Written representations. Papers and a site visit. No hearing. The default for householder and most minor appeals.
• Hearing. A round-table discussion led by the inspector, with no cross-examination. Typically held 10 to 14 weeks after the appeal starts.
• Inquiry. Formal, with witnesses, cross-examination and usually barristers. Typically held 13 to 16 weeks after the start. Rare for householder work and expensive.

On a written representations appeal you cannot introduce new evidence that was not before the council, so the case you make at application stage is largely the case the inspector will see. That is a strong argument for getting the supporting statement right first time rather than treating the appeal as a second attempt.

Appealing when the council does not decide

You do not have to wait indefinitely. A householder or minor application must be determined within 8 weeks of validation, and a major application within 13 weeks, unless you have agreed an extension of time in writing. If the deadline passes without a decision, you can appeal on the ground of non-determination and you have 6 months from the date the decision was due.

In practice, a polite reminder and an agreed extension is usually better than an appeal, because an appeal removes the case from the council entirely and takes longer than a late approval. Use it when the delay is unreasonable rather than as a first response.

Making the appeal stand up

A successful appeal answers each reason for refusal against a named policy in the borough's local plan and the London Plan, with evidence. Assertions that the neighbours do not mind, or that a similar extension exists three doors down, carry weight only when documented with the reference number of the approved application. Photographs, a site plan showing the relationship to neighbouring windows, and a daylight assessment where overshadowing is alleged are what change inspectors' minds.

Costs are not usually at stake. Each side normally bears its own, and the Inspectorate will only award costs where a party has behaved unreasonably, for example where a council refused against its own officer's recommendation without evidence. If the inspector dismisses your appeal, the only further route is a statutory challenge in the High Court under section 288, which must be brought within 6 weeks, requires permission, and is limited to points of law rather than disagreement with the planning judgement.

GS Renovation works with trusted planning consultants and manages the build once approved, from house extensions in London to whole-house renovations across the surrounding counties. See our guides to getting planning permission and to Lawful Development Certificates. For help, contact us or call 07472 424 226.

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