From 1 April 2026 most planning applications made to local planning authorities will follow a new, simpler route if they are appealed and decided via written representations.
Regulations laid by government in February 2026 brought about this change in approach to keep decisions local and provide a quicker route for appeals.
We shared the initial details of this faster, simplified approach in June and followed up with our procedural guide when the regulations had been laid.
Under the new process the majority of written representation appeals will accept only the evidence put before the local planning authority during application. This will not only speed up appeals but will also, importantly, encourage a full body of evidence to be provided at application stage, giving local planning authorities the information they need to make decisions – aligning with universal planning principles of keeping decisions local.
Appellants will be able to indicate which procedure they consider most appropriate, along with their reasoning, during the appeal process.
The procedure (written representation, hearing or inquiry) an appeal follows is decided by the Planning Inspectorate using the same criteria as before, and the suitability of the procedure will remain under review throughout the appeal. We will continue to publish data on the volumes following each route in our quarterly performance statistics.
The Planning Inspectorate remains committed to maintaining a fair planning system where all appeals are carefully considered against local and national planning policies.
For further details about the process, please read the updated procedure guide.
As this only applies to applications made from 1 April 2026, we will maintain both the current and updated procedures guides until such a time as the current guidance is no longer relevant.