Planning Appeals

Who can appeal?

Anybody who has sought consent or permission to develop their property (i.e. building a rear extension) and your application:

• Is refused permission or is granted but with conditions that are not desirable
• Fails to receive a decision from the local planning authority (LPA) within a set period

Under these circumstances you will normally have the right to appeal.

The most common types of appeal LSE Planning deals with are:

Householder - This covers any residential development within the curtilage of an existing house. For example, an extension or loft conversion. Cases typically take between 3 months to be determined after submission.

Full Planning - This covers a wide variety of developments from conversions, proposals relating to flats/maisonettes and cases relating to commercial developments. It is typical for the entire process to take up to 6 months.

Listed Building Consent - This relates to applications that sought permission for works to Grade I & II listed buildings. An example of this could be an appellant seeking to change the windows in an otherwise original building. Just like full planning appeals these cases normally take around 6 months.

For householder appeals, the appellant has 12 weeks to lodge an appeal from the date the application was refused. If your case falls under full planning (this includes flats) or listed building consent you have 6 months to undertake the appeal.

There are 3 types of formal procedure, these are; written representation, oral hearing and public inquiry. Most cases will utilise the written procedure as it is the simplest, fastest and most cost-effective route to determining an appeal.

Written representation cases will receive a reference number shortly after being lodged. The Planning Inspectorate will then check the submission to ensure it meets the statutory time limits and all necessary documents have been submitted in accordance with the procedure. If everything is in order the case will receive a ‘Validation Letter’ normally within 2 weeks of submission.

The next stage in a written appeal is receiving a ‘Start Letter’. This typically takes between 8 - 10 weeks. At this point, you will now be able to track your case online using the last 7 digits of the appeal reference number. If you want to track a case online you can do so by clicking here.

In most instances, the inspectorate will schedule a site visit to better understand the proposed development and the surrounding context. This normally takes place towards the end of the appeal. The appellant will need to provide access to the inspector when they attend site unless the inspector can see the entire site from a public area.

The inspectorate will typically issue a report detailing their findings and ultimate decision 2 - 4 weeks after the site visit. The report will breakdown where the inspector agrees with the local council’s decision and where they disagree. If the appeal is dismissed you will have lost the case but may find information within the report that proves invaluable for gaining approval in future applications.

Alternatively, if your appeal is declared ‘allowed’ you will have won the proceeding and can expect your local council to update their records thus allowing you to continue with your planned development.

This is just an overview, please get in touch for further information relating to the specifics of your case.