Have you been refused planning permission? Don’t panic! A refusal of planning permission is rarely the end of the road. As a planning consultant who specialises in appeals, I’ve overturned hundreds of refusals through the appeal process.
But not all decisions should be appealed – some applications deserve to be refused. In this article, I will explain what your options are when an application is refused and how to work out whether you should appeal the decision, amend and resubmit your application or just walk away.
What is a planning appeal?
A planning appeal is a process where you ask a government inspector, working for the Planning Inspectorate (PINS), to reconsider your planning application after your local council has refused it. This takes the decision out of the council’s hands.
Appealing is often the best way to get permission after a refusal. While only about 20% of refusals end up at appeal, around 40% of those appeals are successful. That means that thousands of people receive a refusal every year and miss out on getting it overturned at appeal.
Appeals are free (apart from enforcement appeals, under certain circumstances) and take around 5 or 6 months to be decided. The inspectors are genuinely independent of local councils, and I have always found them to be professional, objective and fair. Sometimes people assume that inspectors will be inclined to back the council, but I have never found that to be the case – I tend to find that they reach thoughtful, careful decisions.
How do I know if I should appeal?
To work out whether an appeal has a good chance of success, you need to take a cold, hard look at your proposal in light of the council’s decision. Try and decide whether there is any merit in what the council is saying. Read the officer’s report (a document in which the case officer explains in full how they reached their decision). You can also ask the case officer for clarification and advice, though they are often very reluctant to discuss refusals with applicants after a decision is made.
On reflection, do you find any truth in the council’s criticisms? Are your extensions too large, will you overlook your neighbours, will there be problems in terms of parking?
If the council is concerned about protected trees, flooding, contaminated land or endangered species, did your application take full account of these issues?
If, on reflection, your application was flawed and there is some truth in the council’s criticisms, you are better to go back to your designers, amend the proposal and then resubmitting it. You could consider getting some pre-application advice from the council (though I have my doubts about how useful that is)
If it looks to you that your proposal had no chance of success (it was for a new build house in the green belt or in a flood zone, for example), then sometimes you have to make the difficult decision to abandon your proposals entirely.
However, if the reasons for refusal are weak, contradictory, or based on insufficient evidence, you may have strong grounds for appeal. Some decisions are just plainly unfair – I have seen cases where councils have made serious errors of fact, have made decisions contrary to their own planning policies or have refused permission for something they have approved at a neighbouring house just months before.
I had one case where the council objected because the proposal was in a conservation area and close to a listed building, but when I reviewed the council’s planning maps I discovered that it was not in a conservation area at all, and there were no listed buildings nearby.
I had another case where the application was refused for failing to provide parking, though the plans showed new parking spaces on the site.
In another case, a council refused an application for new flats on the basis they did not meet its minimum size standards, but the case officer had measured them wrong and they did in fact comply with the standards.
I’ve also successfully appealed cases where the council’s interpretation of policy was overly restrictive or where they failed to give proper weight to material considerations.
Sometimes, applications are recommended for approval by the case officer but are then refused by the planning committee (for political reasons, or sometimes for no good reason at all!).
Finally, appeals are often necessary for more ambitious or controversial proposals that are unlikely to sail through the council’s process first time around.
Can I change my proposal as part of the appeal?
Appeals are not the place to significantly change your case or introduce new evidence that could have been provided earlier. The general rule is that the appeal inspector should be working from the same documents and plans that were submitted to the council as part of the planning application. If you want to change then, unless the changes are very minor, you need to reapply.
In any case, if the council’s reasons for refusal can be overcome by making relatively minor amendments that are acceptable to both you and the council, resubmitting a revised application might be quicker and simpler than appealing the original refusal.
An unsuccessful appeal can still move you forward
Even if an appeal is ultimately unsuccessful, the inspector’s decision can clarify which specific issues with your proposal were acceptable, which can be invaluable for a future resubmission.
I recently submitted an appeal on behalf of a client who had applied for large extensions to their house, which were refused on the grounds that the extensions were poorly designed and also that they would harm a protected tree at a neighbour’s property.
The appeal inspector agreed with us that the extensions were, in fact, very well designed but sided with the council on issue of the protected tree. In response to this decision, my client hired a new tree consultant to help design a method of construction that allow the extensions to be built without harming the tree. Since both issues had now been resolved, I resubmitted the application (with a covering letter pointing out to the council that the appeal inspector had no objection to the design of the proposal) and planning permission was duly granted.
The appeal process in practice
There are three types of appeal: written representations (the most common and cost-effective), hearings (for more complex cases requiring discussion), and public inquiries (for major or controversial developments). Your choice depends on the complexity of your case and the level of local interest.
Success rates vary by development type and local authority, but nationally around 40% of appeals succeed. However, with proper preparation and strong professional representation, your chances can be significantly higher. I’ve found that appeals with clear, evidence-based arguments addressing each reason for refusal perform best, and I win a majority of the appeals I undertake.
Maybe I can help?
While you can appeal without professional help, hiring a planning consultant significantly improves your chances. A planning consultant brings knowledge of appeal procedures, understanding of planning law and policy, and the ability to construct persuasive arguments.
Maybe I can help? I’m a chartered town planner who has worked on both sides of the planning divide. I decided thousands of planning applications as a case officer at Waltham Forest, Watford Borough Council, and the Environment Agency before entering private practice in 2014.
My planning consultancy, Just Planning, wins hundreds of appeals each year. All of our consultants are chartered town planners and specialise in appeals for homeowners and smaller developers.
Unlike generalist planning consultancies that handle everything from major infrastructure to housing estates, we focus on the types of applications most likely to affect individual property owners – extensions, loft conversions, outbuildings, and new homes. We have unparalleled experience in this area.
We can provide you with a free, objective assessment of your chances of success at appeal. We only take on cases with a strong chance of a positive outcome and will tell you honestly if you should change your plans or resubmit your planning application.
Please do not hesitate to contact us if you need some help.