Planning permission is an integral part of the home extension process. Here at Home Tales, we manage the planning process for you and it’s all included within our architectural design package. We have worked with all London borough councils, as well as Brighton & Hove and Adur & Worthing council. We advise you on planning permission throughout the architectural design phase, to ensure we design a scheme which has a good chance of gaining approval.

A common question we get is: what are my options if planning permission is rejected? We thought we would explain a bit more about the planning process and answer this question for you.

What is included in a planning application?

If you want to alter the external appearance of your home, you will likely need permission or approval from your local council. This can be obtained via planning permission or permitted development. Read more about permitted development here, as this blog focuses primarily on planning permission. If you own a house, we generally apply for a home extension under a householder planning application. If you own a flat, it’s applied for under a full planning permission application. Both yield the same result, it’s just a slightly different type of application which focus on different questions due to the property type. Applications are submitted with additional documentation. This always includes a drawing set to show the existing property and what the proposed changes would be. In addition to this, a CIL form is often required, and other documents might be required such as fire risk assessments, design and access statements, heritage statements etc. Planning takes 8 weeks to determine and a decision letter if then issued with either an approval or a refusal. 

How do you avoid a rejected planning application

Firstly, it’s imperative that all the required documents are provided to the council. The documents required depends on many factors including the individual borough requirements, the type of property, where it’s located… the list goes on. Here at Home Tales, we always try to open a passage of communication between us and the case officer assigned to your application. The reason we do this is to encourage them to communicate with us, so if there is something unacceptable about the proposal, they tell us prior to determination and allow us with an opportunity to tweak the design to make it acceptable. This means the design is adjusted within the application timeline and there is no delay or rejection. It is at the council’s discretion to give us this opportunity.

What happens if planning is rejected?

If the application is refused, then you have a couple of options. If you do not want to amend the scheme and want a shot at getting that original proposal approved, your only option is to appeal the decision. We have a fantastic planning inspectorate that prepares an appeal, and basically argues the decision should be overturned and approval should be granted. The only downside of an appeal is that is takes a long time, the average is approx. 6 months. Appeals also come with an additional fee, so it eats into that all important budget. We can quote for an appeal once planning is rejected and we can see the scope of works, but the general cost for a single project (ie. ground floor extension) is £1,800 – £2,500 + VAT.

If you don’t want to appeal the rejection, the other option is to amend your design and re-apply for planning permission again. The council will issue feedback on the refusal letter. The feedback is often fairly generic, but we would certainly review the information and use that to amend the design. This usually requires reducing the proposal in size or scale.

When we design your home, we advise you on whether the proposal has a good chance of gaining approval or if it’s ambitious. Most of our clients want a scheme that will maximise their space, while adhering to local council policy, which means they will have a good chance of gaining approval first time around. Some of our clients want to push the boundaries and know they might get a rejection, but they want to risk it and see if they can get that larger extension approved. Some clients know it will be rejected but they are willing to go down the appeal route. Whatever you want to do, we would be delighted to advise and support you through your own personal circumstances and wishes.

Book a consultation with our team today and learn more about how we work. Call us on 0207 043 2378 or email us at hello@hometales.co.uk. You can also book a consultation via our live diary here. We look forward to learning more about your project!