Appealing a refused demolition prior notification

A refused prior approval for demolition can be appealed to the Planning Inspectorate under section 78 of the Town and Country Planning Act 1990, and the appeal must be lodged within 12 weeks of the decision rather than the six months that applies to ordinary planning appeals. The narrow point to grasp first is what the authority was allowed to consider. Under Class A of Part 11 of Schedule 2 to the General Permitted Development Order 2015, prior approval covers the method of demolition and the proposed restoration of the site. Nothing else.

That makes most refusals easy to analyse. If the decision notice refuses on the loss of the building, the effect on the street scene, or the absence of a replacement scheme, the authority has strayed outside the matters reserved to it, and that is the appeal.

What the notification covers

Class A of Part 11 permits demolition of a building as a building operation. Before beginning, the developer applies to the local planning authority for a determination as to whether the prior approval of the authority is required to the method of demolition and any proposed restoration of the site.

The application needs a written description of the proposed development, a plan showing the site, the fee, and evidence that a site notice has been displayed. The notice must be on or near the site, readable by the public, for at least 21 days in the 28 day period before the application.

Then one of three things happens. The authority says prior approval is not required and demolition can proceed. The authority says it is required and grants or refuses it. Or 28 days pass with no determination, in which case the developer may proceed in accordance with the details submitted. Demolition must be carried out within five years of the determination.

Not all demolition is development in the first place. The Town and Country Planning (Demolition) direction regime takes certain buildings outside the definition, including small buildings below a stated cubic capacity and most means of enclosure. Check that before applying, because a notification for something that is not development wastes 28 days.

Matters the authority may consider

The two reserved matters are narrow and practical.

Method of demolition covers how the building will be taken down, the sequence, the plant to be used, the measures for dust and noise, hoarding and site security, protection of adjoining structures and the highway, hours of working, and traffic management for removal of material.

Restoration of the site covers what the ground will look like afterwards: levels, surfacing or seeding, boundary treatment, drainage of the cleared site, and capping of services. Where no redevelopment scheme is in place, the authority has a legitimate interest in the site not being left as a hazard or an eyesore.

What it cannot consider is the planning merits of losing the building. Whether demolition should happen at all is not a matter for this procedure, except where another consent regime applies.

Why refusals are usually about method

In practice refusals come down to missing detail rather than disagreement. The commonest gaps are a method statement that does not say how the party wall with an attached neighbour will be made good, no proposal for the exposed flank elevation after a terrace is broken, no dust suppression scheme, and nothing on protection of a footway or a street tree.

Restoration refusals follow a similar pattern. A proposal that offers to leave hardcore in place and a post and wire fence will struggle where the site faces a residential street.

The practical response is often to supply the detail rather than to appeal. Where the refusal identifies a real gap, resubmitting with a fuller method statement and a restoration plan is quicker and costs less than an appeal, because the authority has 28 days to determine and the Inspectorate does not.

Conservation area demolition is excluded

Demolition of an unlisted building in a conservation area is relevant demolition under section 196D of the Town and Country Planning Act 1990 and requires planning permission. The permitted development route does not apply, and carrying out relevant demolition without permission is a criminal offence.

That catches people who look only at the GPDO. The building may be entirely unremarkable, and the conservation area designation still removes the prior notification route.

Listed buildings are outside it too, since demolition of a listed building, in whole or part, needs listed building consent. Scheduled monuments need scheduled monument consent from the Secretary of State. Where a refusal in any of these categories turns on harm to heritage significance, the appeal is a different exercise entirely, and the statutory tests described in heritage harm refusals and the statutory balance apply rather than the narrow method test here.

Time limits for the appeal

The appeal period for a refused prior approval is 12 weeks from the date of the decision notice. That is shorter than the six month general period, and the Inspectorate has no discretion to accept a late appeal in all but the narrowest circumstances.

The appeal is made to the Planning Inspectorate on the prior approval appeal route and is almost always determined by written representations. Hearings and inquiries are available in principle and are very rarely justified on a demolition method question.

Where the authority failed to determine within the statutory period, the position is different again, because the deemed consent provision in the order means there may be nothing to appeal. Check whether the 28 days expired before the decision was issued, since a determination issued late may have no effect. Take advice on that point rather than assuming either way. The same timing analysis applies to other prior approval routes, as appealing a prior approval refusal under Class MA shows.

Evidence on method and restoration

An appeal statement on this topic is a technical document rather than a policy one. Build it around the two reserved matters and answer the refusal reasons line by line.

For method, supply a demolition method statement prepared to recognised industry practice, a structural engineer's sequence drawing where adjoining structures are involved, an asbestos refurbishment and demolition survey under the Control of Asbestos Regulations 2012, a dust and noise control scheme, a traffic management plan for muck away, and the hoarding and site security arrangements.

For restoration, supply a levels plan, a specification for the surface treatment, the drainage arrangement for the cleared site, boundary treatment with heights and materials, and a programme showing when restoration will be complete relative to demolition.

Add the separate statutory notices to show the full picture. Section 80 of the Building Act 1984 requires notice to the building control authority before demolition, and the section 81 counter-notice can require shoring, weatherproofing of adjoining buildings and sealing of drains. Demolition is also notifiable construction work under the Construction (Design and Management) Regulations 2015.

Re-notifying with a revised method

Weigh the two routes honestly. An appeal takes months and decides whether the authority was right on the material before it. A fresh notification takes 28 days and decides whether the new material is acceptable.

Re-notify where the refusal points to a genuine deficiency you can cure. Appeal where the refusal is outside the reserved matters, where the authority has imposed conditions it had no power to impose, or where you need a decision that establishes the principle for a series of similar sites.

You can do both. Lodging an appeal and submitting a revised notification in parallel preserves the position while giving the quicker route a chance, and the appeal can be withdrawn if the second notification succeeds. Where a wider scheme follows the demolition, the policy case for the redevelopment belongs in a Planning Statement with the application for the new building, not in the demolition notification.

This is general guidance, not legal advice. Check the position with your local planning authority or a qualified professional before relying on it.

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