Called-in planning applications and recovered appeals

 

Almost every planning application in England is decided by the local council. Just occasionally the government steps in and takes the decision away from them. Where that happens before the council has decided, the result is a called-in planning application. Where it happens later, while an appeal against a refusal is already running, it is called a recovered appeal.

Both are rare. The government has said it will use these powers very selectively, and that decisions should be made locally wherever possible, so if you are wondering whether your case will be taken over, the answer is almost certainly no.

This page explains who ends up making the decision, what changes for you when the government takes over, the one right you gain, and the one you lose.

 

What a called-in planning application is

 

The Secretary of State can direct that an application be referred to him to decide, instead of being dealt with by the council. That direction is what calling in means. It can be aimed at one council or at councils generally, and it can name a single application or a whole class of them.

Once an application has been called in, it is judged on the same basis the council would have used. The same rules about the development plan and the other things that count still apply, and conditions can be imposed in the same way. What changes is who signs the decision, not the test being applied.

Calling in only works while the application is still undecided, because the whole mechanism is a requirement to refer the application instead of the council dealing with it. Once the council has issued its decision there is nothing left to call in.

Once an application has been called in, an inquiry will be held. An inspector runs that inquiry and reports with findings and a recommendation, but the final decision is made by the Secretary of State.

 

How an application ends up being called in

 

Councils have to warn the government about certain kinds of application before they grant permission. A direction sets out which ones, and while it is in force a council that is minded to approve one of them has to consult the Secretary of State first. That consultation is the main route by which a call-in gets considered at all.

Anyone can also write in and ask for an application to be called in. You do not need any special standing and it does not matter who you are. What matters is whether the case raises issues of more than local importance, which is the test the government has set for itself. Disliking a scheme is not that, and a request on those grounds will go nowhere.

 

You keep the right to be heard

 

This is the part that surprises people, and it is worth knowing, because it is stronger than the position on an ordinary appeal.

Before deciding a called-in application, the Secretary of State has to give both the applicant and the council the chance to appear and be heard by someone appointed for the purpose, if either of them wants it. Either side can insist, and it does not depend on anybody agreeing.

Parliament passed a change back in 2008 that would have removed that right in England, leaving the government to choose the procedure instead. It has never been brought into force. Wales lost the equivalent right in 2014. In England it is still standing.

At the inquiry, a group that wants to take a formal part can apply for Rule 6 status in much the same way as on an appeal.

 

What a recovered appeal is

 

Most planning appeals are decided by an inspector, and in law the decision of the inspector counts as the decision of the Secretary of State. Recovery is where the Secretary of State directs that one particular appeal will be decided by him personally instead.

The direction has to give reasons, and it has to be sent to the inspector, to the person appealing, to the council, and to anyone who put in comments the council was obliged to take into account. So if you objected to the original application, you ought to hear about it.

Recovery does not mean starting again. The appeal continues under the procedure selected for it, which may be written representations, a hearing or an inquiry. Instead of issuing the final decision, the inspector reports with findings and a recommendation and the Secretary of State decides the appeal. That is why a recovered appeal can end up going the other way from the inspector’s recommendation.

A recovery direction can also be undone. The Secretary of State can revoke it at any point before the appeal is decided and hand the case back, and anything already arranged, including a booked hearing or inquiry, still counts. There is also a narrower power in England to take over just part of the process rather than the whole decision.

 

What you cannot do afterwards

 

Here is the part you lose. The decision on a called-in application is final. There is no planning appeal against it, because the appeal you would normally make is an appeal against your council, and your council did not make the decision.

An appeal decision is likewise the end of the road, whoever signed it. If your application has simply been refused in the ordinary way, that is a different situation and you do have a route: see what to do when an application is refused.

After a called-in decision or a recovered appeal, the only thing left is the High Court, and that is a challenge to the way the decision was reached rather than a second opinion on the planning merits. The time limit is short and unforgiving. Our guide to judicial review and section 288 challenges sets out what is involved.

One trap is worth knowing on a recovered appeal. You cannot complain afterwards that the Secretary of State ought to have decided the appeal rather than an inspector, unless you challenged the power of that inspector to decide it before the decision came out. Leave it until you have lost and the point has gone.

 

What it costs

 

Nothing is charged for asking for an application to be called in, and there is no extra fee because the decision has been taken over. The application fee is the ordinary one for that kind of application, set out in our guide to planning application fees.

The real cost is taking part. A called-in application will go to a public inquiry, which is the most demanding and expensive way a planning case can be run. A recovered appeal may instead continue by written representations or hearing, depending on the procedure selected for it. Each side normally pays its own way. An award of costs can be made where somebody has behaved unreasonably, and the position on a called-in case is not the same as on an ordinary appeal, so read that page rather than assuming.

 

Should you ask for one?

 

Usually not, and it is worth being blunt about why:

• the test is importance beyond your area, not strength of local feeling, and most requests fail on that alone
• asking does not pause anything, so the council can decide while you are still waiting to hear
• if it works, the applicant loses the ordinary right to appeal because the Secretary of State, not the council, makes the original decision
• a called-in application will go to an inquiry, so expect a more formal, expensive and slower process

If your worry is a scheme near you, your effort is almost always better spent on the objection itself and on the process the council runs. If an appeal has already started and you want to have your say on it, commenting on the appeal is the practical route, not a request to a minister.

 

 

Relevant legislation for a called-in planning application

 

Links below go to legislation.gov.uk. Always check the Changes to Legislation panel on each page, because amendments are not always shown in the main text.

• Section 77 of the Town and Country Planning Act 1990: the power to require an application to be referred to the Secretary of State, the right to be heard, and the finality of the decision
• Schedule 6 to the Town and Country Planning Act 1990: appeals decided by an inspector, the power to recover an appeal, and the power to revoke that direction
• Section 79 of the Town and Country Planning Act 1990: how an appeal is determined
• Schedule 10 to the Planning Act 2008: paragraph 2 would remove the right to be heard on a called-in application in England, and has never been commenced

 

Other Planning Appeal Sections

 

Called-in Planning Applications Page Updated: 21st August 2026