Appeal Handling Times

How quickly will I get a decision on my appeal?

If your application for planning permission has been rejected we would encourage you to try to negotiate an amended scheme rather than submit an appeal.  Our records show that, on average, only about one appeal in three is successful.  This rate has remained broadly constant over many years.  If you do decide to appeal, you should allow enough time to ensure that everything is submitted to us before the deadline. 

Where an appeal is the only way to proceed, there are 3 possible procedures:- written representations, hearings and inquiries.  You should consider carefully which suits your circumstances before choosing your preferred procedure. Inspectors give equal attention to every appeal regardless of the procedure. To help you decide which procedure to choose we have criteria which indicate which is likely to be the most suitable procedure. See:  A Guide to choosing the Appeal Procedure - Indicative Criteria.

 

We issue the majority of planning appeal decisions within 26 weeks of the start date. HAS appeals are much faster and will normally be dealt with within 8 weeks.

We plan the use of our Inspector resource in such a way to maximise the potential output - which means we can deal with the highest number of customers whilst being as efficient as possible.

There is not an even distribution of work across the country and this can lead to periods where the time taken to decide appeals will vary according to the location of the case.

Householder Appeals

The latest available figures show that to date, 91% of these appeals were decided within 8 weeks.

Planning appeals

Excluding appeals made under the Householder Appeals Service and appeals subject to a bespoke programme, the latest available figures show that to date, 74% of these appeals were decided within 26 weeks.

Planning appeals subject to a bespoke programme

The latest available figures show that 100% of these appeals were issued in accordance with the timetable.

 

This information was last updated on 31 August 2010