If the London Borough of Richmond upon Thames has refused your planning application, you have the right to appeal — and a great many of these refusals do not survive it. Richmond is one of the most design-conscious, conservation-heavy boroughs in London, and it applies its guidance strictly, so it refuses more than most. We handle the whole appeal for a fixed fee of £399, and we win more than half of the appeals we take on. We take on any Part 1 appeal, not just extensions: loft conversions, dormers and roof alterations, changes of use and small residential schemes all qualify.
Why Richmond upon Thames refuses so many applications
Richmond is wall-to-wall Victorian and Edwardian terraces, riverside villages and conservation areas — dozens of them. The council guards all of it closely. On top of its Local Plan, it leans hard on its House Extensions and External Alterations design guide and a village-by-village set of planning guidance documents, which set out exactly how far a dormer should be set in from the edge of a roof, how deep a rear extension may go, and how a roof should look. Useful rules of thumb — but the council often treats them as though they were law. If you want to see how councils compare, we’ve ranked the councils that refuse the most.
The refusals follow a pattern. Rear dormers said not to be set in far enough from the edge of the roof. Loft conversions called too big or out of keeping. Extensions said to harm the character and appearance of the area or to be overbearing on a neighbour. Roof alterations refused in conservation areas, and changes of use refused to protect a shopfront. Most of these come down to the council’s reading of its own guidance, which is exactly why so many are overturned.
Why inspectors overturn these refusals
An inspector does not work for the council. They visit the site, judge it against national policy and the evidence, and are not bound by the council’s design guide where it does not fit the actual street. Time and again, a refusal that leaned on a guidance rule falls apart when the inspector sees that half the street already has the very thing the council refused.
We see it constantly. A rear dormer refused for not being set in far enough, allowed because the neighbours’ dormers are built the same way. A loft conversion refused as too dominant, allowed because it is subordinate to the house and barely visible from the street. When the reason for refusal is the council’s guidance rather than any real harm, an inspector is free to take a different view — and often does.
Recent wins in Richmond upon Thames
A rear dormer in Teddington. Refused because the dormer was not set in from the edge of the roof as the council’s guidance prefers. The inspector allowed it — set in and tile-hung, it read as subservient to the house and matched the pattern of the street.
A loft conversion in Twickenham. A loft conversion and rear roof extension refused on character grounds. The inspector allowed it — the neighbours on both sides had the same, and the extension gave the terrace balance rather than harming it.
A two-storey side extension in Twickenham. A corner-plot house refused a two-storey side extension and a new roof. The inspector allowed it — set back and carefully designed, it sat comfortably on the larger plot and kept a sense of space at the junction.
A rear extension in Hampton. A first-floor rear extension refused over the outlook from a neighbour’s patio doors, which the council called a “tunnel effect”. The inspector allowed it — the projection was modest and an outlook beyond it survived.
Five appeals on one Hampton street. On one stretch of Station Road in Hampton we have won five separate appeals across two neighbouring buildings, and twice persuaded an inspector to order Richmond to pay costs. Read the full story.
What the appeal process involves
Most refusals in Richmond 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, cost and costs awards
You have twelve weeks from the date on the decision notice to appeal a householder refusal, and six months for most other applications. Miss the deadline 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. In the clearest cases, where a council has refused something it clearly should have approved, we can also apply for your costs — but an inspector only awards them where the council has behaved unreasonably, not simply because you won, and we will tell you honestly whether it is worth it.
Can we help with your case?
Our fixed-fee service covers Part 1 planning appeals in Richmond, which is the great majority of them — refused extensions, loft conversions, dormers and roof alterations, changes of use and small residential schemes all qualify. It does not cover cases that go to a hearing or public inquiry, or listed building and enforcement appeals; 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.
