What do I do if my planning application is refused?

A refusal notice is a structured document. It lists numbered reasons, each tied to a policy, and each of those reasons is either something you can design out or something you disagree with. Sorting the reasons into those two piles is the whole of the decision about what to do next.

Step by step

1. Read the reasons for refusal and the officer's report.The report explains the reasoning behind the notice and is usually published with the application. It tells you which parts of the scheme the officer accepted, which is as useful as the parts they refused.
2. Sort each reason into fixable or arguable.Fixable: too deep, too high, wrong materials, overlooking a specific window. Arguable: a judgement about character or amenity that you think misapplies policy. The mix decides your route.
3. Consider a free-go resubmission first.Many councils allow one further application within a period of a refusal without a further fee, subject to conditions. Ask the case officer whether it applies, and what amendment would make the scheme acceptable.
4. Ask the case officer directly what would be supported.Officers generally answer this. It is the fastest route to a scheme that gets approved, and it costs a phone call.
5. Consider whether a smaller scheme is permitted development.A refused application does not remove permitted development rights. A scaled-back version may need no permission at all, and a lawful development certificate confirms it.
6. Understand what an appeal is and is not.An appeal to the national planning inspectorate re-decides the application on its planning merits. It is not a complaint about the council, it takes months, and the inspector decides on the scheme as submitted, not an improved one.
7. Check the deadline if you are appealing.There is a time limit for lodging a householder appeal from the date of the decision, and it is strict. Take the current period from the appeal guidance rather than from memory, and diarise it immediately.
8. Get advice before appealing anything marginal.A planning consultant's fee for an appraisal is small against the time an appeal costs. They will also tell you honestly when the refusal is likely to be upheld.

Tips

• Do not build the refused scheme and hope. A refusal makes the work unauthorised development from the first day and the council is already aware of the site.
• Appeal decisions are public and searchable. Reading decisions on similar schemes in your area tells you a great deal about how inspectors treat the policy your council relied on.
• If the refusal is about impact on one neighbour, a conversation with that neighbour sometimes produces an amendment nobody had thought of.

Common mistakes

• Appealing immediately out of annoyance — An appeal argues the refused scheme. If the reasons are fixable, an amended application is faster, cheaper and much more likely to succeed.
• Missing the appeal deadline while negotiating — The period for lodging a householder appeal is strict and the negotiation does not pause it. Diarise the deadline on the day the decision arrives.

Questions people ask