Appeal a decision about a lawful development certificate

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1. When you can appeal

Your local planning authority makes decisions about lawful development certificates.

You can appeal against a lawful development certificate decision if either:

  • you disagree with it
  • the decision was not made within 8 weeks (6 weeks for work to a listed building)

Do not appeal if you’ve already been given an enforcement notice. You may have to pay additional costs if you do.

Only the person who made the lawful development certificate application can appeal. If you did not apply, you can comment on an appeal instead.

There’s no fee for appealing.

Deadline for appealing

There’s normally no deadline. If you’re appealing an application about a listed building lawful development certificate, you must appeal within 6 months of the decision.

You can apply for planning permission at the same time as appealing a lawful development certificate decision.

2. Make an appeal

You can make an appeal to the Planning Inspectorate online or by post.

If you want to appeal more than one decision you must make a separate appeal for each.

You also need to send a copy of your appeal, including all supporting documents, to your local planning authority. The Planning Inspectorate will tell you how to do this.

Documents you must provide

You’ll need to submit copies of:

  • your original application
  • the local planning authority’s decision notice - if they did not make a decision, send a copy of the letter acknowledging your application
  • all plans, drawings and documents you sent to the local planning authority
  • any letters or emails between you and the local planning authority
  • your appeal, if you’re appealing by post

You’ll also need to submit:

  • a map of the site
  • any other documents that directly support your appeal, for example your grounds of appeal

If you think your land or building is now lawful because the time limit for enforcement has passed, you also need to submit evidence like:

  • dated photographs of the site
  • letters from neighbours
  • receipts or invoices for work
  • plans and drawings

You can upload these documents when you appeal online or post them to the Planning Inspectorate.

Appeal online

You must have copyright permission to use any drawings or other documents.

You can upload Word documents, images or PDF files up to 15MB. Do not send web links to files - send the files themselves.

All files must be:

  • a single document, appendix or image
  • given file names that describe what they are

Appeal a decision about a lawful development certificate on the Appeals Casework Portal.

Appeal by post or email

Ask the Planning Inspectorate for an appeal form to appeal by post or email.

The form will tell you where to send the completed form and required documents to.

The Planning Inspectorate
Room 3 O/P
Temple Quay House
2 The Square
Temple Quay
Bristol
BS1 6PN

Planning Inspectorate customer support team
enquiries@planninginspectorate.gov.uk
Telephone: 0303 444 5000
Find out about call charges

3. Comment on an appeal

Anyone can comment on a lawful development certificate appeal. Find the case on the appeals casework portal. The deadline for comments is 6 weeks after the start date of the appeal.

Your local planning authority must tell anyone who has commented on the application (‘interested parties’) that there’s an appeal. The local planning authority has to do this within 2 weeks of the appeal being validated by the Planning Inspectorate.

If there’s going to be an inquiry, interested parties can apply to have ‘rule 6 status’, which means they’ll play a much bigger part. For example, they can call witnesses and give evidence.

Read the detailed guidance about taking part in an appeal.

4. After you appeal

The Planning Inspectorate will check your appeal to make sure it’s valid. They’ll tell you what happens next and how long your appeal may take.

The Planning Inspectorate will then consider your appeal. Check how long planning appeal decisions normally take.

If anyone behaves unreasonably

You can apply for an ‘award of costs’ if anyone involved in your appeal has cost you money by behaving unreasonably, for example missing deadlines. You can have costs awarded against you too.

You can complain about how the Planning Inspectorate handled your appeal. There’s no time limit for complaints.

5. If you disagree with the appeal decision

You can challenge the decision in the High Court if you think the Planning Inspectorate made a legal mistake.

Get advice from a lawyer if you’re unsure about this.