Planning refused in London? A written review of your options, £180
We read the decision notice, the officer’s report and the policies behind it, then tell you in writing whether to appeal, redraw and resubmit, or take another route, and which we would choose.
£180 fixed fee, no VAT to add
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The short answer
A refusal does not end the project, but the next step decides whether it is cheap or costly. Our refusal review is a written report from a chartered architectural technologist that compares an appeal, an amended application and a lawful development route for your house, and recommends one. The fee is £180, no VAT to add, and it is credited in full if you then use us.
Planning refusal review
from £180
- Fixed fee
- £180
- VAT
- None to add
- A plain-English reading of each refusal reason, and how strong the council’s case looks
- The officer’s report and the policies it cites, checked against your plans, not only the decision notice
- The planning history of the property and any appeal decisions we can find for similar schemes
- Every route weighed in writing: appeal, redraw and resubmit, a permitted development or lawful development fallback, or leaving it
- Our recommendation and why, with the deadline you are working to
- A fee credited in full against our appeal or resubmission for the same property
£180. A starting fee: we confirm one fixed figure after checking your address. The council’s own fee, where there is one, is paid to the council.
Get my fixed feeHow the review runs
Send the notice
The decision notice and, if you have it, your application drawings. We check the date on the notice first, because it sets your deadline.
We read what the council read
The officer’s report, the policies it relies on and the planning history, then recent appeal decisions on similar schemes.
We test each route
Would an appeal answer the refusal reasons, would a smaller design, or does the work fit permitted development after all?
Your written report
You receive the findings, the recommended route and the deadline in one document you can keep and show others.
You choose the next step
Stop there, or have us draw the appeal or the revised scheme, with the review fee taken off.
Appeal, redraw or go another way?
These are the real choices after a refusal, and the right one depends on why you were refused. An appeal asks the Planning Inspectorate to look at the same scheme afresh, so it suits a refusal that rests on a weak or arguable reason. Redrawing and resubmitting suits a refusal that points at something fixable, such as a depth, a height or a window that the officer will not accept.
The third route is often missed. Some refused schemes can be built, in a smaller form, as permitted development, and a lawful development certificate then proves it. We say so in the report if that is the right answer for you, even though it means you need us for less.
- Appeal: suits a case where the refusal reasons look weak against the policies the council cited
- Amended application: suits a case where one detail caused the refusal and can be changed
- Lawful development or permitted development: suits a case where a smaller version needs no permission
Householder planning appeals · Lawful development certificates
The deadline comes first
Check the date on your decision letter before anything else. For a refused householder application you generally have up to 12 weeks from that date, according to GOV.UK. Other refused applications generally allow up to 6 months.
An enforcement notice shortens both. If one arrived before the refusal, GOV.UK gives you 28 days from the decision letter. We put the exact date at the top of the report, so you can decide with the clock in view.
What our paid review gives you that a free one does not
A free review is usually a short opinion before the firm quotes for its own appeal. That is a fair way to start a conversation, and it may be all you need. It is not a document you can keep.
Ours is a written report you own. A chartered architectural technologist (MCIAT) writes it, and it goes beyond the decision notice to the officer’s report, the cited policies and the planning history. It weighs the routes that earn us nothing, including a fallback that needs no application, and not just the one a reviewer sells. If the answer is a redesign, we can draw the change that meets the refusal reason, and the review fee comes off that work.
- You can show the report to a lender, buyer, solicitor or a second adviser
- The recommendation is not tied to who wins the appeal fee
- The fee is credited in full against our appeal or resubmission for the same property
What it costs to go on
A resubmitted householder application pays a fresh council fee of £548 from 1 April 2026, per the GOV.UK fee schedule. We state that in the report beside our own fees, so the true cost of each route sits side by side. The review fee is separate and is only credited against our own follow-on work.
Read the reasons before you reapply
The decision notice lists the reasons for refusal, and each one shows what an appeal, a redrawn scheme or another route would have to answer.
Refusal and appeal by the numbers
12 weeks
The time you generally have to appeal a refused householder application, from the date on the decision letter.
Source: Appeal a householder planning decision: how long you have to appeal (GOV.UK)
28 days
The shorter deadline if an enforcement notice reached you before the refusal, counted from the date on the decision letter.
Source: Appeal a householder planning decision: how long you have to appeal (GOV.UK)
6 months
The time you generally have to appeal a refused application that is not a householder one.
Source: Appeal a planning decision: how long you have to appeal (GOV.UK)
8 weeks
How long after the council confirms receipt you can appeal if it has not decided; 13 weeks for major projects.
£548
The council fee for a householder application on one house from 1 April 2026, payable again if you resubmit.
Source: Planning fees: annual indexation from 1 April 2026 (GOV.UK)
Questions after a planning refusal
Should I appeal or change the design?
It depends on the reasons. If the officer’s reasons are arguable against the council’s own policies, an appeal can be worth it. If one detail drove the refusal, a revised application is usually quicker. The report gives you our choice and the reasoning.
Does the review fee come off if I use you afterwards?
Yes. It is credited in full against our appeal or resubmission for the same property. It is not credited against other work.
Can I still build something smaller without permission?
Sometimes. A smaller version may fit permitted development, and a lawful development certificate then proves it. We check this as part of every review.
What do you need from me?
The decision notice, and the application drawings if you have them. We find the officer’s report and the planning history ourselves. Messages before 3pm get a reply the same working day.
Will the report promise the appeal will win?
No one can promise a decision. The report gives our honest view of the strengths and weaknesses of each route, including when we think you should not appeal.
Know your next step before the deadline
Send the decision notice. We reply with what we need and start the review for £180, credited if you go on with us.