£799 · written representations
A refusal is a document, not a verdict.
It comes with numbered reasons, and those reasons are the material for the next step. An appeal answers each of them in turn, on the policy the council itself relied on, and it goes to a Planning Inspector rather than back to the people who said no.
First
Check your deadline before anything else.
It runs from the date on the decision notice, and it is not extendable. Missing it ends the option entirely.
| Householder application | 12 weeks from the decision |
|---|---|
| Advertisement consent | 8 weeks from the decision |
| Most other applications | 6 months from the decision |
| Lawful Development Certificate | No statutory deadline |
These follow the procedural guidance for applications dated on or after 1 April 2026. Wren targets submission a week before your deadline rather than on it, and shows the remaining time as a countdown that turns amber at thirty days and red at fourteen.
The deliverable
One document, and it is the whole case.
An earlier version of this quote listed three items against a single generated document. It now lists what is actually produced.
A Statement of Case identifying you, the site, the authority, the original reference, the date of refusal and the deadline. Describing the site and the surroundings, and the proposal as it was made. Then answering each reason for refusal on its own terms, against the policies the council itself cited, quoted from its adopted plan rather than characterised.
Where they can be verified, relevant appeal decisions and case law. Where they cannot, they are left out rather than invented. Case law coverage in the index we use begins around 2001, so older authorities fail the check and are not cited.
Then the planning balance, and the conclusion.
How it runs
01
You give us the decision notice
With the reasons for refusal exactly as the council wrote them. The precise wording matters more than anything else here, because the appeal answers those words and not a paraphrase of them.02
We pull the record
The original application is matched in the decision record, filling in the reference, the date, the type and the council's own description of what was proposed.03
It is drafted against the council's own policy
Every policy cited is resolved against that authority's adopted plan text, and what the draft says about each one is tested against the retrieved words rather than against what such a policy usually says.04
A chartered planner reviews and signs it
The same review, the same two attestations and the same signature record as any other case.05
You approve it, and it is lodged
Then tracked to the Inspector's decision, which lands on your file with the reasons.
The price
What it costs
| Statement of Case draftedBuilt from your refusal reasons and the council's own policy text | £300 |
|---|---|
| Case managementDeadlines, the Inspectorate's forms, tracking to a decision | £200 |
| Chartered review and sign-offA named chartered planner reads it, revises it, signs it | £299 |
| Wren | £799 |
| Planning InspectorateThere is no fee on a section 78 appeal | £0 |
| Total | £799 |
Honestly
When an appeal is not the right answer
We would rather lose the fee than take it for something that will not work.
Some refusals turn on a point of principle an inspector will not go behind. Others turn on something you could simply change, and a resubmission within twelve months of a refusal usually carries no further council fee, which makes it both faster and cheaper.
A dismissed appeal also makes a later resubmission of the same scheme materially harder, because an inspector has now decided the point. That is a real cost and it belongs in the decision.
Your planner will tell you which of these you are in. If the answer is that an appeal is not worth your money, that is what they will say.
Questions
Questions
How much does an appeal cost?
£799 through Wren, and nothing to the Planning Inspectorate. There is no fee on a section 78 appeal, so the £799 is the whole cost of it.
How long does an appeal take?
Typically 12 to 20 weeks by written representations. There is no statutory period, which is one of the reasons the wait is hard.
Do you do hearings and inquiries?
Not from this site. Wren sells written representations, which is how the large majority of appeals are decided. Hearings and inquiries are a different kind of engagement and are arranged case by case.
Should I appeal or resubmit?
Sometimes the faster and cheaper answer is to change the scheme and apply again, and a resubmission within twelve months of a refusal usually attracts no further council fee. Your planner will say which is better on your facts, including when the answer is that neither is worth your money.
Can an appeal make things worse?
An appeal cannot take away a permission you already have, because you do not have one. The real risks are time and cost, and an inspector's decision is binding, so a dismissed appeal makes a resubmission of the same scheme considerably harder.
What do you need from me?
Your decision notice, with the reasons for refusal exactly as written. Those are not scraped from anywhere: the precise wording is what the appeal answers, so you supply it from the notice itself.
Start here
Start with the site, not the paperwork.
Draw your boundary and see what the constraints and your council's own record actually say. It is free, and it is the fastest way to work out whether an appeal is worth making.