Types of Planning Appeal

There is no such thing as a single planning appeal. What you can appeal, who is allowed to do it and how long you have all depend on what the council refused, or on the notice it served on you. This page lists the types of planning appeal in England, what each one is for and when to use it. If you have just opened a letter you were not expecting, work down the page in order, because the first question is always whether an appeal is the right move at all.

First: is an appeal the right move?

An appeal is not the only answer to a refusal, and it is not always the best one. If a change to the scheme would answer the council’s reasons, the government’s own guidance says to put in a new application instead. That advice matters more for ordinary section 78 applications made on or after 1st April 2026, because the expanded Part 1 written representations procedure now covers most relevant refusal appeals and tightly limits new material at appeal. An appeal is not the place to redesign the scheme.

• Planning application refused: what to do next: how to read the reasons you were given, and how to weigh a fresh application against an appeal
• Appeal timescales: work out your deadline before you do anything else, because some routes give you only 28 days

There is no fee to make a planning appeal, and each side is expected to meet its own expenses. A fresh application is a different matter, so see our guide to planning fees in England before you choose between the two.

The main types of planning appeal

Which of the types of planning appeal you make follows from what the council refused, or from the notice it served. Find yours here.

• Refused planning permission: the ordinary appeal against a refusal, or against a condition you cannot live with. Our main appeals guide covers how to appeal, what changed in April 2026 and how long you will wait
• Non-determination: where the council has not decided in time, and you appeal rather than keep waiting
• Minor commercial appeal: a shop, cafe, pub or takeaway can carry a much shorter deadline than most refusals, and whether yours does turns on the old use classes list that was scrapped in 2020
• Prior approval appeal: refusal of prior approval can be appealed under section 78. For prior approval applications made on or after 1st April 2026 these refusal appeals will usually start under the Part 1 written representations procedure
• Biodiversity Gain Plan appeal: where the council refuses a Biodiversity Gain Plan, or fails to decide it in time. The appeal period is normally six months; refusal appeals are eligible for Part 1 but the Planning Inspectorate says they will usually be moved to Part 2
• Enforcement notice appeal: an appeal against a notice rather than against a refusal, and you have to get it in before the notice takes effect. The grounds of appeal are set by statute, and picking the right ones matters
• Lawful development certificate appeal: where the council will not confirm that something already built, or something you propose to do, is lawful. For an ordinary section 191 or 192 certificate there is normally no statutory appeal deadline, although the Planning Inspectorate expects a timely appeal; a listed building lawful development certificate has a six-month deadline
• Listed building consent appeal: refused consent to alter a listed building, including the unusual argument that the building should never have been listed
• Advertisement consent appeal: a refused sign, where only two considerations are allowed to count
• Tree preservation order appeal: refused consent to work on a protected tree, on one of the tightest deadlines in the system, plus the compensation claim most people never hear about
• High hedges appeal: the one case where the neighbour can appeal as well as the person who received the notice
• CIL appeals: a Community Infrastructure Levy bill is not a planning decision, so it has its own routes, and you have to ask for a review first

How your appeal will be decided

You do not choose the procedure. The Planning Inspectorate does, and most appeals are settled without anybody meeting.

• Written representations: the paper route, which has Part 1 and Part 2 procedures. The April 2026 regime expanded Part 1 to cover most relevant refusal appeals and sharply limits new material; the trigger date depends on the appeal type, so check the procedure page before relying on the application date alone
• Hearings and inquiries: the appeals dealt with face to face, who is allowed to speak, and how the Inspectorate decides which you get
• Planning appeal site visit: what happens when the Inspector sees the site, how access works and what you can and cannot point out
• Rule 6 party status: how an organised group can take part as a main party at an inquiry alongside the council and the appellant, with the work and the cost risk that go with it
• Called-in applications and recovered appeals: when the government takes the decision out of local hands, and the right of appeal you lose if it does

If the appeal is not yours

Only the person who made the application can appeal a refusal. A neighbour who dislikes a permission has no right of appeal against it, but that does not leave you powerless.

• Objecting to an appeal: what you will be told, when you are and are not allowed a further say, and what an Inspector can take into account

Costs, and if the appeal fails

• Award of costs: when one side has to pay the other side expenses, including the newer risk of producing at appeal the report that should have gone in with the application
• Recovering a costs award: what happens after an award is made, how the amount is worked out and what to do if it cannot be agreed
• Judicial review and section 288 challenges: challenging the outcome in the High Court, on how the decision was reached rather than on whether it was right. Six weeks, and it is not a second appeal
• Purchase notice: the narrow case where a refusal leaves land with no worthwhile use at all, and the council can be made to buy it from you

Still not sure which of the types of planning appeal fits your case? Start with our main planning appeals guide, see the types of planning application if no decision has been made yet, or the types of planning enforcement if a council is taking action.

Other Planning Appeal Sections

Types of Planning Appeal Page Updated: 29th August 2026