Checklist for a validation refusal response
An invalidity notice is a list check, not a planning judgement. Here is how to separate the national requirements you must meet from the local list items that have to be reasonable and material.
An invalid planning application response works best when it is a single email with three parts: the requirement you are being asked to meet, the published list entry it comes from, and either the document or the reason the requirement does not apply to this proposal. Validation officers are checking a list, not forming a planning judgement, so argue on the list. Nothing is gained by arguing the merits of the scheme with the person at the validation desk.
The statutory position is narrow. Article 11 of the Town and Country Planning (Development Management Procedure) (England) Order 2015 sets out when an application has been validly made, and section 62 of the Town and Country Planning Act 1990 is the power that lets an authority ask for anything beyond that.
Why applications come back as invalid
Most invalidity notices come from a short list of causes. The wrong fee, because the floorspace was measured differently. A missing or wrongly completed ownership certificate. A location plan without a red line, or at a scale the authority will not accept. An existing plan missing where only proposed drawings were supplied.
Then there are the newer national items. A Design and Access Statement where article 9 requires one, which covers major development and, in a conservation area or World Heritage Site, one or more dwellings or 100 m² or more of floorspace. A fire statement under article 9A for relevant buildings. And since February 2024, the biodiversity gain information: a statement of whether the applicant believes the gain condition applies, the pre-development biodiversity value, the date it was calculated and the completed statutory metric.
Those are national. They are not negotiable, and an authority that returns an application for one of them is right to do so.
The national requirements and the local list on top
The useful distinction is between what the Order requires of every application and what a particular authority has added through its local list. The first group cannot be argued away. The second can.
| Category | Source | Scope for challenge |
|---|---|---|
| Form, fee, certificates, plans | DMPO 2015 article 7 and the fee regulations | None |
| Design and Access Statement | DMPO 2015 article 9 | Only whether the thresholds are met |
| Fire statement | DMPO 2015 article 9A | Only whether the building is a relevant building |
| Biodiversity gain information | DMPO 2015 as amended for the Environment Act 2021 | Only whether an exemption applies |
| Local list items | Section 62 of the 1990 Act | Reasonableness and materiality |
Section 62 allows an authority to require particulars only where the requirement is reasonable having regard to the nature and scale of the proposed development, and where the information is material to the determination. Those two tests are the whole of your argument on a local item.
Reading the authority's published list properly
Download the list as a PDF and keep the copy. Note the date on the front. National guidance on making an application says local lists should be kept under review and updated at least every two years, and an authority that is relying on a stale list is on weak ground when it insists on an item.
Read the trigger column, not the report name. A good local list says when each document is needed: above a floorspace figure, within a defined zone, within a set distance of a designation. Many invalidity notices quote a document that the list itself only requires above a threshold the application does not reach. A Transport Assessment demanded for a nine-unit scheme on a list that sets its own trigger at 50 units is the clearest example, and it is resolved by quoting the list back.
Check the list against the application you actually made. A householder application cannot attract a major-development requirement. A section 73 application is for the variation of a condition, and the list requirements attached to a full application do not transfer wholesale. We set out the usual bundle in what to submit with a section 73 application.
Challenging a requirement that does not hold up
Keep it to one paragraph per requirement and attach the evidence.
- Quote the requirement as the officer stated it, in their words.
- Quote the list entry, with its date and the trigger it sets out.
- State the fact that takes the proposal outside the trigger, with the figure or the plan reference that proves it.
- Say what you are providing instead, if anything, and why that meets the material consideration behind the requirement.
- Ask for the application to be validated from the original submission date.
Where the authority holds its position, ask for the decision to be confirmed by the validation team leader in writing, with the section 62 justification. That written answer is what you need if the matter goes further. There is no statutory appeal against a refusal to validate, so the routes are the council's own complaints procedure and then the Local Government and Social Care Ombudsman, with judicial review reserved for genuine unreasonableness.
There is one other lever. If you believe the application was valid when submitted, the Planning Inspectorate can consider whether a valid application was made when an appeal is lodged against non-determination after the statutory period has run. That is a long road and it carries risk, so take advice before relying on it.
Supplying documents without restarting the clock
The determination period runs from the day after the application is valid. Where you concede a requirement, get the document in quickly and ask in the same message for the receipt date to be recorded, because authorities differ on whether they treat the resubmission as a fresh application or a completed one.
Supply exactly what was asked for and nothing else. A list item satisfied by a two-page statement does not need a 40-page report, and a longer document gives the validation officer more to query. Where the item is a technical report you do not yet have, a scoping note agreed with the relevant officer sometimes satisfies the list on the basis that the full report arrives by condition.
Name files the way the authority asks. Several authorities reject bundles because one PDF carried the drawing number in the wrong position, which is a tedious reason to lose a fortnight.
Fees, resubmissions and the record you keep
If an application is returned as invalid the fee is normally refunded, and the refund is the moment to check that the fee was calculated correctly in the first place. Floorspace measurement is the usual culprit on commercial schemes. The fee regulations have been amended several times and the concession allowing a resubmission without a further fee is narrow, so check the current regulations rather than assuming last year's position still holds.
Keep a validation file for every application: the submitted bundle with dates, the invalidity notice, your response, the officer's reply and the final validation email. Build it as you go rather than reconstructing it later. Where a requirement cost you money that was never material to the determination, that file is the evidence for a complaint, and it is also the evidence for an unreasonable behaviour costs application if the scheme ends up at a hearing.
For the next application, treat the local list as a design input rather than a submission chore. Pull it at feasibility stage, mark the triggers your scheme crosses, and price the reports then. You can see which documents a site is likely to need, and draft the narrative ones, by browsing all 66 report types by category or starting with the Design and Access Statement that most major schemes will need anyway.
This is general guidance, not legal advice. Check the position with your local planning authority or a qualified professional before relying on it. PlanScope provides AI-assisted draft reports for planning applications. Reports should be reviewed before submission. We do not guarantee planning approval.
Frequently asked questions
Can I appeal against a refusal to validate my application?
There is no statutory right of appeal against a validation refusal. The routes are the authority's own complaints procedure, then the Local Government and Social Care Ombudsman, with judicial review reserved for genuine unreasonableness. Separately, where you maintain the application was valid on submission, the Planning Inspectorate can consider that question on an appeal against non-determination once the statutory period has passed.
What are the national validation requirements?
A completed application form, the correct fee, the ownership certificate and any agricultural holdings notice, a location plan and site plan, and the particulars listed in article 7 of the Development Management Procedure Order 2015. Added to those are a Design and Access Statement where article 9 applies, a fire statement under article 9A for relevant buildings, and the biodiversity gain information.
How often must a local validation list be updated?
National guidance on making an application says local lists should be kept under review and updated at least every two years. An authority relying on a list older than that is in a weaker position when it insists on an item, because section 62 of the Town and Country Planning Act 1990 requires any local requirement to be reasonable and material to the determination of that application.
Does the eight-week clock start from submission or validation?
From the day after the application is valid, not the day you submitted it. That is why a validation dispute is expensive in time as well as fees. Where you concede a requirement, send the document straight away and ask the authority in writing to confirm the date it treats the application as valid, since practice varies between authorities.
Is the fee refunded if an application is invalid?
An application returned as invalid normally has its fee refunded, and that is a good moment to check the fee was right in the first place. Floorspace measurement is the common error on commercial schemes. The concession allowing a resubmission without a further fee is narrow and the fee regulations have been amended repeatedly, so check the current schedule.
Sources and further reading
This article is general guidance about the planning system in England and, where stated, the rest of the UK. It is not legal or professional advice. Check your local planning authority’s validation requirements and take professional advice for your specific site.