National planning fee increase

On 6 December 2023, national planning fees will increase. Applications must be submitted and fully paid for by 5pm on Tuesday 5 December 2023 to avoid the change in fees and change to exemptions. View the change in national planning fees

Planning enforcement

Appealing a notice

The law provides a right of appeal against an enforcement notice.

The appeal must be sent to the Secretary of State before the notice takes effect.

Details of how to appeal are included with the enforcement notice.

Grounds for appeal include:

  • legal grounds, concerning the validity of the notice
  • grounds relating to over-compliance – for example, that the time for compliance is too short, or the works to be undertaken are more than is necessary
  • grounds relating to the "deemed" application – that permission ought to be granted for the development that has already been carried out

There is a fee payable for enforcement notice appeals which relate to a 'deemed application'.

Advice is provided on the Planning Portal website.

It is not possible to appeal against an enforcement notice on the grounds that planning permission should have been granted, if a planning application has already been submitted and refused for the same development.

Once a planning enforcement notice has been issued, there can be no appeal against a previous decision to refuse planning permission for the same development.

Any appeal must be made against the enforcement notice. This prevents landowners having 'two bites of the cherry' or extending the life of an unauthorised development.

There is no right of appeal to the Secretary of State against a breach of condition notice. The applicant can either:

  • submit an appeal against a planning condition when planning permission is first issued
  • submit an application to remove or vary the condition
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