If Buckinghamshire Council has refused your planning application, you have the right to appeal — and you are in good company. Buckinghamshire refuses more householder applications than any council in England, so a refusal here is common, and far from the end of the road. Councils don’t always get it right. Our chartered town planners prepare and manage the whole appeal for a fixed fee of £399.
Why Buckinghamshire refuses so many applications
Buckinghamshire covers a large, well-heeled and heavily protected slice of the country, and it plans to keep it that way. Much of the south sits in the Green Belt. A big part of the county falls within the Chilterns National Landscape, where the bar for new development is set high. Add conservation areas in almost every town and village, and Article 4 directions that strip out permitted development rights, and you have a council with a great many reasons to refuse. It turns down more householder applications than anywhere else in the country — see which councils refuse the most.
Why inspectors overturn these refusals
An inspector does not work for the council. They come to your scheme fresh, look at the site themselves, and judge it against national policy and common sense rather than the case officer’s list of misgivings. Time and again, a refusal that read as damning on the decision notice falls apart when someone independent visits the site.
We see it constantly. A set of dormers refused as out of character, allowed on appeal because similar dormers already sat happily along the same road. A rear extension refused as overbearing on the neighbours, allowed because the harm was modest and the separation generous. When character and appearance is the reason for refusal, the council is giving you an opinion, not a fact. An inspector is entitled to a different one, and often has it.
Recent wins in Buckinghamshire
A two-storey remodel in Amersham. The owners already had permission for a major reworking of their house, then came back for modest amendments: a little extra depth on the first floor and two dormers on the front roof slope. The council refused on character and appearance, in a wooded, protected part of town. The inspector allowed it — the extensions stayed clearly subservient, the small height increase added no real bulk, and the front dormers were modest and perfectly at home on the street.
A two-storey side extension in High Wycombe. A house on a corner plot, refused a two-storey side extension on character and appearance grounds. The inspector allowed it — the extension was set back from the flank, read as subordinate to the main house, kept the existing ridge height, and the sloping site tucked much of the ground floor below road level. A textbook example of the most commonly refused extension there is, won back on appeal.
What the appeal process involves
Most householder and small-scheme refusals in Buckinghamshire go through the Part 1 expedited written representations procedure. There is no longer a written statement of case: the inspector decides on your original application documents, the council’s reasons for refusal, and a concise 250-word summary of why the decision was wrong. Because nothing new can be added later, the evidence that wins your case must already be in the application, and the summary must point the inspector straight to it. We complete the appeal form, draft that summary, and handle all liaison with the Planning Inspectorate through to decision, typically around three to four months. See our guides to winning a planning appeal and the 250-word summary.
Deadlines and cost
You have 12 weeks from the date on the council’s decision notice to lodge a householder appeal. Miss it and the right is lost. The Planning Inspectorate charges no fee; ours is a fixed £399 covering everything from reviewing your refusal to the decision — no hidden costs, no hourly rates.
Can we help with your case?
Our fixed-fee service covers standard householder appeals in Buckinghamshire — single-storey rear, side and wraparound extensions, two-storey extensions, dormers, loft conversions and outbuildings. It does not cover listed building consent, enforcement notices, or cases requiring a hearing or public inquiry; for those we’d refer you to our sister practice, Just Planning.
Get free initial advice
Send us your decision notice and we’ll review it free of charge, tell you honestly what we think your chances are, and explain what happens next. Get in touch — we respond within one working day.
