Can you spot the difference between these two first floor side extensions? The extension on the left was refused due to the distance to the side boundary with the neighbouring property. The right extension was approved. Acer Town Planning were brought onboard and won a planning appeal against the refusal.
One small step in, one giant leap in costs
Acer Town Planning was consulted on planning strategy by an applicant unhappy with the extra costs and reduction in space resulting from a Council’s requirement for this first floor extension to be set in 0.4m from the existing ground floor side extension to comply with an (arbitrary) SPD guideline – requiring a 1m distance to be retained with the side boundary.
At Acer Town Planning we assessed the likelihood of a challenging a refusal at appeal and advised the applicant on a twofold strategy.
Firstly, it was decided to amend the plans to set in the first floor to obtain a fallback planning approval. A second application was then submitted for the original scheme with the intention of appealing against the inevitable planning refusal.
Following the refusal, we prepared and submitted an appeal to the Planning Inspectorate. We successfully argued the case that the appeal proposal would not be out of character with the prevailing street scene and that a sense of space would be retained between the two properties.
Taking into account the site details and the impact of the extension on the street scene, the Planning Inspector agreed, that in this case, being closer to the boundary would not unacceptably reduce the sense of spaciousness and allowed the appeal.
New NPPF Policies
This was our first appeal decision received since the introduction of new national planning policies in the 2026 NPPF and it was interesting to see the Inspector afford substantial weight in the planning balance to the benefit of providing additional floorspace in a settlement in accordance with new Policy L2. At Acer Town Planning we will be watching future appeal decisions carefully to see whether the national policy changes result in more successful appeals and in particular whether local (often arbitrary) planning rules and guidelines are overruled.
Small scale wins can make a huge difference to my clients, particularly for householder projects such as this where a simpler build will mean a big reduction in the end costs. Find out more about planning appeals and recent changes here. Get in touch with Acer Town Planning today for bespoke advice on appealing against a planning refusal.
