Around 70,000 planning applications are refused in England and Wales every year — and only about one in five refusals is ever appealed. Of the rest, a good share would likely have won. Thousands of homeowners and small developers miss out on permission they deserve simply because they never challenged the decision. This guide explains how planning appeals work under the rules introduced in April 2026, who can appeal, what it costs, and — most importantly — what actually wins.
What is a planning appeal?
A planning appeal asks the Planning Inspectorate — an independent government agency — to look at your council’s decision again. The case is taken out of the council’s hands entirely: an inspector with no connection to the council reconsiders the proposal on its planning merits and can grant the permission the council refused.
That independence matters more than people realise. Case officers work under pressure from residents, councillors and senior officers, and are rarely criticised for following local guidance to the letter — so when in doubt, they say no. Some councils go further and refuse controversial but acceptable schemes knowing they will probably be approved at appeal, keeping their own hands clean. Inspectors are outsiders: free to treat guidance as guidance, weigh the issues on their merits, and make exceptions where the site justifies them.
What can you appeal, and by when?
You can appeal a refusal of planning permission, a condition you object to on an approval, or a refusal of prior approval under permitted development rules — for a householder extension, a flat conversion, an HMO, a new house or a commercial scheme alike. Only the applicant can appeal; neighbours cannot appeal a permission the council has granted.
The deadlines are strict: 12 weeks from the date on the decision notice for householder applications, and 6 months for most other applications. Miss the deadline and the right to appeal is lost — and preparing a good appeal takes longer than you think, so don’t sit on a refusal.
Will appealing sour your relationship with the council?
No. Appeals are a normal, expected part of the planning process, and case officers are not offended when their decisions are challenged — some even remind applicants of their right to appeal when refusing, a quiet acknowledgement that they may not be convinced by their own decision. An appeal is not a slap in the face, and it will not affect how the council treats you in future.
Is it worth appealing?
Not every refusal deserves an appeal. Some proposals are genuinely half-baked, and the refusal — painful as it feels — is showing you what to fix before reapplying. Appeals make sense where a proposal is fundamentally sound but has been refused on grounds that don’t stand up to scrutiny: vague reasons, guidance applied rigidly where it was meant to flex, or subjective judgements about design and character that another professional could reasonably reach differently.
Nationally, around a third of appeals succeed — but that headline figure is dragged down by hopeless, speculative appeals submitted without advice. Well-conceived appeals do far better: the secret is being right, and reasonable proposals that comply with policy (or can fully justify a departure from it) usually win. We win more than half of the appeals we take on, partly because we tell people honestly when their case isn’t worth pursuing.
How the 2026 expedited procedure works
For applications made on or after 1 April 2026, almost all of these appeals follow the Part 1 ‘expedited’ written representations procedure. You submit the appeal form online (there is no fee), with a copy of your application and the council’s decision notice. On the form you explain, in around 250 words, why the decision was wrong — there is no appeal statement, and no opportunity to submit evidence the council hasn’t already seen. If something matters to your case, it must already be in the application file, because the inspector will not research the site or fill gaps for you. We’ve written a full guide to writing the 250-word appeal summary.
The form also asks whether there have been significant changes since the council’s decision — a newly adopted local plan, changes to national policy, or a court judgment. Local plans and the National Planning Policy Framework change constantly, so if the policy ground has shifted in your favour, this is the place to say so.
The council then has 5 working days to send its questionnaire and the application documents; its case is essentially the officer’s report and decision notice, and interested parties get no further say. The inspector visits the site — not to hear argument, simply to see the place — and issues a written decision: householder appeals generally take around four months, larger schemes around six.
When you need more than 250 words
Some appeals still involve full appeal statements: non-determination appeals, listed building consent, enforcement notices and lawful development certificates — our sister practice’s guide at Just Planning covers those. And there is one important tactical route within the new system: you can request a hearing on the appeal form. If a hearing is granted, you can submit a statement of case and new material — a daylight report, revised drawings — which makes it potentially the only way to get missing evidence in front of an inspector where the refusal turns on something the original application didn’t cover. Hearings involve more preparation and inspectors won’t grant one for every case, but for the right case it is well worth pursuing.
What actually wins planning appeals
After more than a thousand appeals, the patterns are clear. Appeals are won by narrowing the case to the one or two issues the refusal actually turns on, and answering them precisely. They are won on the evidence already in the application — the drawings, the street context, the daylight analysis — pointed out to the inspector clearly. They are won by testing the council’s reasoning: guidance applied rigidly where it allows flexibility, policies stretched beyond their wording, general rules applied without engaging with what makes your site different. Our case studies show these arguments at work on real appeals, from porches to roof terraces.
And appeals are lost, reliably, by anger. How the council behaved — delays, poor communication, suspected unfairness — is not a material consideration, and criticising the case officer wastes the few words you have. The inspector’s only question is whether your proposal is acceptable in planning terms.
What does a planning appeal cost?
The Planning Inspectorate charges nothing to lodge a planning appeal. Your cost is professional help, if you choose it — our fee is a fixed £399 for the whole service, from reviewing your refusal to the decision. Where a party behaves unreasonably, the other side can apply for an award of costs, but awards are uncommon and cover only the direct costs of the appeal. One insider’s note: applying for costs isn’t always wise even when justified — the risk of a payout can spur a case officer into mounting a far stronger defence of the refusal, and for most appellants winning permission matters more than recovering costs.
What if the appeal fails?
You lose nothing you already had — the refusal simply stands. And a dismissed appeal is often not a full stop but a refinement: inspectors frequently accept parts of your case even while dismissing the whole, and their findings carry real weight. If the inspector rules that the council was wrong to call your extension overbearing but dismisses the appeal over window positions, that first point should be treated as settled — a revised application fixing the windows can reasonably expect to succeed. Read the decision letter carefully; it is often a roadmap to permission.
Get an honest view before you start
Wondering about the odds before you commit? See our honest take on your real chances of winning a planning appeal, and why the national success rate matters far less than your particular case.
Every appeal starts the same way with us: send over your refusal and we’ll tell you, honestly and for free, whether your case is worth pursuing. If it isn’t, we’ll say so. If it is, we handle everything for a fixed £399 — the form, the 250-word summary, and all liaison with the Planning Inspectorate through to decision. Get free initial advice.