New planning and enforcement appeals will no longer be accepted by the Appeals Casework Portal (ACP) as the government leans further into the new online route
The second phase of the switch to the government’s digital planning service has been rolled out, bringing the service a step closer to full integration.
The service, called the ‘Appeal a Planning Decision’ service, is designed to modernise and meet the Digital and Data standards.
Appeals already submitted through the ACP are still valid
Most new planning and enforcement appeals must be submitted through the new digital planning service, but existing appeals within the ACP will still allow a log in to view progress and case management.
Some specialist appeal types aren’t currently supported in the new service, and so these will need to be submitted through the ACP. Any unsupported types are expected to be added during the 2026/27 financial year.
Supported appeal types include:
- Householder
- Planning
- Listed Building
- Commercial Planning
- Commercial Adverts and Advertisements
- Enforcement Notice
- Enforcement Notice Listed Building
- Lawful Development Certificate
The new appeal service can be found here, while more information on navigating the service can be found on the guidance page here.
Is simplification of the planning system the best way forward?
At the beginning of the month, the government introduced the new route for written planning appeals, with the intent of ensuring that appeals can only be appealed with evidence presented during the initial application, forcing developers to make sure all the evidence is available from the start instead of hastily added during the appeals process.
Writing for PBC Today, Darren Muir, senior director in planning at the Pegasus Group, discussed the idea of simplifying and streamlining the UK’s planning system and how effective it will actually be.
Darren wrote: “There’s a growing narrative in planning reform that if everyone simply “gets it right first time”, the system will run faster, smoother, and with fewer disputes. It’s a neat idea. It’s also wrong.
“This notion assumes that planning decisions are a matter of identifying a single correct answer and presenting it clearly enough, but we all know that isn’t how it works. Planning is not a multiple-choice test. It is a discipline built on interpretation, balance, and professional judgement.
“That’s why the latest changes to the Planning Inspectorate’s Procedural Guide for Planning Appeals for applications from 1 April 2026 deserve closer scrutiny. While the intent is clear, namely greater efficiency and consistency, the risk is that in tightening the process, we lose some of the nuance that good decision-making depends on.”
Read Darren’s full thoughts here.
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