Costs can be awarded in planning appeals against any party involved in the process: appellant, local planning authority or third parties. Costs can also be claimed, and local planning authorities understandably often want to try to recover what can be large sums in the biggest cases. This Council in Ledbury is planning to do just that.

The Government's proposed reforms to the planning system are receiving a lot of criticism, including from the architectural profession, planners and countryside charities. There is still much debate to be had on the topic and it will not be until next year that any changes happen. But residents will need to be prepared to put their case well in any expected increase in applications that occur; see our book for assistance.

Small investors, self-builders and individuals can be tempted to buy 'micro-plots': fields carved into parcels of land sold with hope value for housing. These rarely gain planning permission and this good article provides a summary. Take advice if you are interested in purchasing, or want to pursue a planning application or appeal.

Appeals can be progressed on a site following every refusal of planning permission. This can lead to a lot of applications and appeals over time, with this news report reporting six appeals over the years. However, perhaps it is better to put a good case at the outset and avoid the expense and time of wasted appeals.

Planners like to categorise things in neat boxes, and a change is now in place to a crucial area of commercial use classes. The new Class E is now in force, which combines a lot of former business and retail uses into one category. This means that planning permission is not needed for any use within that Class E, for instance a change from a shop to a restaurant, or an office to a cafe. See more here

.The Government has announced the biggest shake-up to planning for years. There are proposals for new zoned areas of land, a change in how financial contributions are made, digital planning initiatives, more public involvement in plan-making, and lots more. But it is all consultation at the moment, which means for now all planning applications and appeals are still the same.

The planning system likes its neat categories of different types of uses. The Government has recently announced a shake-up of this for commercial uses, combining many uses into one general class. This means that many changes of use are not going to need planning permission, in an attempt to provide more freedom for high streets and businesses. As ever, there are limitations on this, so you'll need to check the legislation or with Councils.