Introduction
In this blog post, we discuss the Government’s proposals to reform the written representation planning appeals procedure to make these appeals faster
On 25th June 2025 the Government published a press release and guidance (which can be accessed at the links below) discussing proposed changes to the written representations appeals procedure:
Press release – https://www.gov.uk/government/news/a-faster-more-efficient-planning-appeals-process
We discuss below the main changes for written representations appeals under the Government’s proposed reforms
Proposed changes to written representations appeals
The Government is proposing the following changes:
(1) Expansion of the expedited written representations appeal procedure which currently only applies to householder and minor commercial applications, such that it will also be used for determining appeals against the refusal of planning permission or reserved matters, against the imposition of planning conditions, and against the refusal of prior notification or prior approval
(2) Amending the expedited written representations appeals procedure so that an appeal is determined on information submitted as part of the planning application without the opportunity for the parties to submit additional evidence at appeal
(3) Introducing a streamlined procedure in terms of the information on appeal to be submitted by the local planning authority (LPA) in that they will only be required to submit information considered when deciding the application, their decision notice and the LPA officer’s report
(4) Prohibiting interested third parties from commenting on these expedited written representations appeals
The Government will need to amend the current Regulations before these changes can take effect, however the intention is for the changes to commence by the end of this year
Our comments
Anyone involved with planning appeals knows this can involve a lengthy protracted procedure for the parties to comply with and that appeals are currently slow to be determined by the Planning Inspectorate with many cases taking a year or more to determine. Therefore we welcome the Government’s proposed reforms from the point of view of shortening the procedure for written representations appeals and leading to these appeals being determined faster
However, these reforms will require developers and their consultants to be much more careful and complete in how they prepare and submit planning applications to the LPA as it will be more difficult subsequently to try to introduce new evidence at appeal which wasn’t submitted with the application and applications will now need to be essentially prepped for a possible appeal when submitted to the LPA
Note: all comments and views expressed in this blog are merely opinions and provided for information purposes only and do not constitute legal advice which can be relied upon. Should you require legal advice on a matter then please contact us
