Before you reply to the council.
The first instinct on receiving an enforcement notice is to write back and explain. That letter becomes evidence, and it is very hard to unwrite. Talk to someone first — the clock is 28 days and it does not stop.
Is this you?
What’s involved
The clock
An appeal against an enforcement notice must be lodged within 28 days, and it must be in before the notice takes effect. There is no discretion, no extension, and the Planning Inspectorate does not accept late appeals.
That is the shortest deadline in the planning system and it is the reason this page exists. Everything else on it is less urgent than that sentence.
Say less, sooner
Most people who receive a notice do the reasonable thing: they write to the officer setting out what happened and why. It feels cooperative. It is also a statement of fact from the person the notice is against, and it will be read back to you.
Dates matter enormously in enforcement — when work was substantially completed, when a use actually began, whether it has been continuous. A well-meant letter that gets a date slightly wrong can cost immunity that was otherwise established. Get advice, then correspond.
Immunity — and the trap in the transition
| The breach | Immunity period |
|---|---|
| Operational development substantially completed before 25.04.2024 | 4 years — the old rule survives |
| Change of use to a single dwelling before 25.04.2024 | 4 years |
| Anything on or after 25.04.2024 | 10 years — all breaches |
Two apparently similar breaches on the same street can have completely different positions, decided by which side of a date in April 2024 they fall. Establishing exactly when something happened, and proving it, is usually the whole case.
Breach of condition notices are different
There is no right of appeal to the Planning Inspectorate against a breach of condition notice. The routes are compliance, judicial review, or defending the prosecution. Most people assume everything can be appealed. This can’t, and that changes the strategy completely.
Proof
An enforcement matter resolved — anonymised is fine, and probably preferable here.
Questions we’re asked
How long do I have?
28 days from service, and the appeal must be lodged before the notice takes effect. It is the hardest deadline in planning.
Should I reply to the council first?
Not until you’ve had advice. Anything you write becomes evidence, and dates in particular are very difficult to correct afterwards.
We’ve been doing this for years — doesn’t that make it lawful?
It may. Since April 2024 the period is 10 years for all breaches, but where work was substantially completed before 25 April 2024 the old 4-year rule can still apply. The question is what you can prove, not what you know.
Will they make me demolish it?
Sometimes the required steps go further than they need to, and that is itself a ground of appeal. What a notice demands and what a council can sustain are not always the same thing.
Call, don’t email.
If a notice has been served, the 28 days are already running. Send us the notice and we’ll tell you what it actually requires, what grounds are available, and whether the dates are on your side.
Send us the notice