How long do you have to appeal a planning refusal?

You have 12 weeks from the date on your householder refusal notice to submit an appeal to the Planning Inspectorate. Miss that deadline and you lose the right to appeal that decision, with no extensions or exceptions.

How long does a planning appeal take in the UK?

Householder appeals are decided by the written representations procedure, which covers most cases and needs no hearing. Recent Planning Inspectorate figures put the typical time from a valid appeal to a decision letter at around three months, though this has historically run to six months or more.

What are the chances of winning a planning appeal?

Roughly one in three householder appeals in England succeeds. The successful minority almost always have genuine policy or procedural errors to challenge, not just a design the council disliked.

Is it better to appeal or resubmit after a planning refusal?

Resubmit when the council identified specific, fixable design problems, as a revised application is usually faster. Appeal when the council misapplied its own policy, ignored your evidence, or contradicted its Local Plan, because redesigning will not fix a policy error.

Does it cost anything to appeal a planning decision?

Submitting an appeal to the Planning Inspectorate is free. Costs only arise if you hire a planning consultant to review the case and draft your statement, which is optional for straightforward appeals.

Can the council appeal if you win your planning appeal?

No. The inspector's decision replaces the council's, and the council has no mechanism to appeal it. The only further challenge is a High Court judicial review, which a council would almost never pursue for a householder extension.

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Phase 1 · Planning & Permissions · Task 17 of 17

Appealing a Planning Decision

How to appeal a refused householder planning application. Covers the 12-week deadline, written representations procedure, what the inspector looks for, realistic success rates, and when resubmitting makes more sense.

11 min readUpdated 2026Free with email

Planning appeal timeline showing key stages from refusal through appeal submission, council response, inspector site visit, and decision

Prerequisites

Complete this first

Submitting a Planning Application

About two in every three householder planning appeals fail. That statistic should make you pause before reaching for the appeal form. But it should also make you curious about the third that succeed, because they succeed for specific, identifiable reasons. If your refusal falls into the right category, an appeal is free to submit and the process is far less intimidating than most homeowners expect.

The real question isn't whether you can appeal. You almost certainly can. It's whether you should.

What this guide covers

01Appeal or Resubmit: Make This Decision First
02The 12-Week Deadline
03How the Appeal Process Works
04Writing Your Appeal Statement
05What the Inspector Actually Looks At
06Non-Determination Appeals
07Success Rates: Be Realistic
08What It Costs
09Costs Awards: When the Council Behaves Unreasonably
10If You Win
11If You Lose
12The Practical Reality

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