Guidance

Appeals: how long they take

Latest average timescales for planning, enforcement and householder appeals.

Published 1 January 2014
Last updated 19 March 2018 — see all updates

• From: Planning Inspectorate

The Planning Inspectorate receives around 20,000 appeals each year. The number and type of appeals submitted can, and often does, change each month. This might affect how long it takes to deal with your appeal.

The information on this webpage is updated monthly. This information was last updated on 19 March 2018.

The appeal handling process

The majority of appeals will be decided by written representations or a hearing and there are four stages involved, which are explained below.

The tables are a guide, and because the number of appeals we receive each month fluctuates this can affect the time taken to validate or start a case.

Planning (including listed building) appeals

These appeals will be in respect of a decision that the local planning authority (LPA) has made in relation to a planning application other than a householder appeal.

For appeals dealt with by written representations or a hearing:

Planning Appeal	Receipt to Start	Start to Event	Event to Decision
Written Representations	10 weeks within which: Receipt to Validation is 1 week	10 weeks	4 weeks
Hearings	17 weeks within which: Receipt to Validation is 1 week	14 weeks	5 weeks

For appeals dealt with by an inquiry:

Planning appeals that are decided following an inquiry do not have a separate “validation” stage. Instead, when the appeal is started, the start letter declares the appeal to be valid, and the necessary validity checks will have been carried out so that an inquiry can arranged.

Planning Appeal	Receipt to Start	Start to Event	Event to Decision
Inquiries	5 weeks	34 weeks	10 weeks

Householder appeals

These are appeals relating to refusal for development associated with a house such as a rear extension or roof alteration.

Householder Appeal	Receipt to Start	Start to Event	Event to Decision
Written Representations	8 weeks within which: Receipt to Validation is 1 week	5 weeks	2 weeks

All enforcement and lawful development certificate appeals

These are appeals against an enforcement notice (including listed building enforcement) or lawful development certificate in respect of your property.

Enforcement Appeal	Receipt to Start	Start to Event	Event to Decision
Written Representations	17 weeks within which: Receipt to Validation is 4 weeks	20 weeks	3 weeks
Hearings	12 weeks within which: Receipt to Validation is 2 weeks	20 weeks	5 weeks
Inquiries	25 weeks within which: Receipt to Validation is 3 weeks	29 weeks	6 weeks

Receipt to validation.

You submit an appeal to the Planning Inspectorate, Once it is received, we undertake certain checks to ensure it is a valid appeal. We will let you know when your appeal has been validated. The times stated above include appeals that have been submitted but cannot be validated until further documentation has been received.

Validation to start.

Once the appeal has been validated, we identify a suitable Inspector to decide the appeal. The time this takes depends on several things, including the type of appeal and the procedure type.

Start to event.

Once we have identified a suitable Inspector, we will write to you with the timetable for the appeal, including deadlines for the submission of representations and support documents. The Inspector will also hold a site visit, a hearing or an inquiry.

Event to decision.

The Inspector will then make a final decision regarding your appeal, based on the evidence submitted. You will be notified of the decision.

For more information about the appeals handling process and the types of procedure types, read the Planning Inspectorate’s Procedural Guide.

Published 1 January 2014
Last updated 19 March 2018 + show all updates

1. 19 March 2018 Average timescales updated
2. 7 February 2018 Average timescales updated
3. 9 January 2018 Average timescales updated
4. 13 December 2017 Updated data on appeal handling times
5. 18 October 2017 indicative times updated
6. 2 October 2017 Indicative times updated
7. 7 August 2017 Monthly figures updated
8. 15 June 2017 pre election advice removed
9. 6 June 2017 Monthly stats updated
10. 4 May 2017 Monthly Figures updated
11. 11 April 2017 Advice on impact of local elections added
12. 7 April 2017 Monthly figures updated
13. 23 March 2017 Timescales updated
14. 16 January 2017 The monthly figures and the way they are set out have been updated
15. 5 December 2016 Monthly figures updated
16. 12 October 2016 Figures updated
17. 19 July 2016 figures updated
18. 11 May 2016 Monthly figures updated
19. 10 February 2016 Updated figures
20. 1 January 2014 First published.