- First thing to do
- Get the officer's report, not just the decision notice
- Householder appeal deadline
- 12 weeks from the date of the decision notice
- Other appeal deadline
- 6 months from the date of the decision notice
- Resubmission
- A new application, and the Council fee is payable again
- Last reviewed
- September 2026
Step one: read the officer's report
The decision notice gives you the refusal reasons in their tidiest, most defensible form, usually two or three sentences with a policy reference. It tells you almost nothing useful.
The officer's report is the document that matters. It is published on the Council's website alongside the application, and it sets out what the officer actually thought: which issues were finely balanced, which consultee drove the outcome, what weight was given to the objections, and whether the recommendation was to approve or refuse.
Three things to look for:
- Was the refusal contrary to the officer's recommendation? If officers recommended approval and members refused at committee, the Council now has to defend a position its own advisers rejected. Those appeals succeed at a materially higher rate.
- Is each refusal reason evidenced? A reason that asserts harm without any assessment behind it is weak on appeal and is the starting point for a costs application.
- What did the consultees actually say? A highways holding objection that was never resolved is a very different problem from a highways objection on principle.
The four options
1. Appeal
An independent Inspector re-decides the same proposal. Right when the disagreement is about principle or planning judgement, and when the scheme cannot be amended without losing the point of it. Deadlines are strict: twelve weeks for householder applications, six months for everything else, from the date on the decision notice. See planning appeals.
2. Resubmit an amended scheme
Resubmit when the refusal reasons are specific and fixable: reduce the depth, move a window, change a material, add the survey that was missing. A new application pays the Council fee. It is faster than an appeal and keeps the relationship with the case officer intact.
3. Apply for something different
Sometimes the refusal tells you the application was the wrong one. A refused householder application on an outbuilding may be a certificate question. A refused change of use may qualify for prior approval on much narrower grounds. Stepping sideways is often better than pushing harder.
4. Accept it
Occasionally the right answer. If the refusal reasons are sound, the policy is against you and the constraints are real, then appealing costs money to confirm what you already know. Anyone who tells you every refusal is appealable is selling you something.
Do not resubmit the identical scheme with a longer covering letter. The Council will refuse it for the same reasons, and if you appeal later you will have a second refusal on the file. If nothing has changed, appeal instead.
Appeal or resubmit: a rough test
- Could you fix the refusal reasons by amending the drawings, without ruining the scheme? If yes, resubmit.
- Is the refusal about whether development of this kind belongs here at all? If yes, appeal. Amendment will not help.
- Is the refusal about a matter of judgement, such as character or scale, where a reasonable professional could take the other view? If yes, appeal. This is exactly the territory Inspectors are appointed to resolve.
- Was a required document missing? Resubmit with it. Appealing on incomplete information rarely works.
- Did members refuse against officer advice? Lean strongly towards appeal.
What it costs to appeal
The Planning Inspectorate does not charge a fee for a planning appeal. Your costs are professional fees and any supporting evidence you need. Our fixed fee for written representations is £500 to £1,000 depending on the case. Each side normally bears its own costs, but an award can be made where a Council has behaved unreasonably.
If the deadline has already passed
There is no extension and no discretion. The remaining route is a fresh application, which you can make at any time, and the Council fee is payable again. It is worth checking the date on the notice today rather than next week.