Appeal a planning decision

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Make an appeal

If someone else owns land or property that’s included in your appeal, you must tell them before you start your appeal.

You should also make sure you have all the documents you need.

Make an appeal

Fees

There’s no fee for appealing.

Documents you need

Your appeal statement

You’ll need to create an appeal statement. This is a document that explains why you’re appealing.

It’s sometimes called a statement of case. Find out how to make a statement of case.

Copies

You’ll need to submit copies of:

  • your planning application form
  • the decision letter from the local planning authority (LPA), if you have one
  • all plans, drawings and documents you sent to the LPA in your application
  • the site plan for your appeal site
  • the ownership certificate document, if you submitted one separately as part of your application

If you’re requesting a hearing or public inquiry

You also need to create a draft statement of common ground. This is a document explaining the parts of your planning application that you believe the local planning department will not disagree with.

Preparing your documents

You can submit the documents as any of these file types, as long as they’re smaller than 15MB:

  • DOC or DOCX
  • JPG or JPEG
  • PDF
  • PNG
  • TIF or TIFF

Make sure all documents are fully readable without any redacted text.

If someone else owns land or property that’s involved in your appeal

You must tell them that you intend to appeal.

Example 1:

Your appeal is about building a house on a field you own. You do not have to tell anybody else, because you own the whole field.

Example 2:

Your appeal is about a decision that applies to a whole estate of houses. To appeal that decision, you’d have to tell other homeowners on the estate.

If you know who the owners are

Complete the form in annexe 2A or 2B of the planning appeals guidance and send it to them to tell them you’re appealing.

If you do not know who the owners are

You must try to find them.

To do this, you can:

To make a site notice, complete the form in annexe 2A or 2B of the planning appeals guidance and use it as the notice.

If you cannot find the owners

You must advertise your appeal, for example in a local newspaper.

Complete the form in annexe 2A or 2B of the planning appeals guidance and use it as the advertisement.

Get help using the online service

Contact the Planning Inspectorate’s customer support team if you need help using the online service.

By phone

Planning Inspectorate customer support team
Telephone: 0303 444 5000
Monday to Friday, 9am to 4pm (except public holidays)
Find out about call charges

Online

You can also ask a question or make a complaint online.

View a printable version of the whole guide

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