Who can redraw my plans after a planning refusal in London?

Anyone competent can redraw your plans after a refusal, and it does not have to be whoever drew them first: we take on refused schemes in London and redraw them for a fixed fee from £745. The work starts with the council's decision notice, because the refusal must state the full reasons, and the new drawings have to answer each one before a fresh application is worth its fee.

By the DrawingsDirect drawing team · 31 October 2026 · 5 min read

Yes, a new designer can redraw them

There is no rule that ties a refused scheme to the person who drew it. The refusal is a decision about a proposal on your site, and a fresh application can come from a different designer with different drawings. Many people change hands at this point because they want a second view of why the first scheme failed.

What we need from you is the decision notice, the drawings that were refused, and the officer's report if the council published one. If you no longer have the drawings, the council's online register usually holds them. We are a chartered architectural technologist (MCIAT) practice, and the drawings we produce are the same planning drawings a council expects from any designer.

A new designer still needs accurate existing drawings to work from, and our post on getting planning drawings without a site visit explains which parts of that can be done from home.

How we redraw a refused scheme

Read the reasons
We list every reason on the decision notice and the policy each one cites, then read the officer's report for what lay behind it.
Check the survey
If the first drawings were not based on a measured survey, we check heights and boundaries before redesigning anything.
Change what was refused
Each reason gets a specific change to depth, height, roof form, windows or materials, drawn on new plans and elevations.
Explain the changes
A short covering note sets each reason beside the change that answers it, so the officer can see the difference at once.
Submit afresh
The revised scheme goes in as a new application, which starts a new decision period.

The decision notice is the brief

Government guidance says that where permission is refused, the council must state clearly and precisely the full reasons for the refusal, specifying the development plan policies that are relevant. That makes the notice the most useful document you hold: it tells you what the council objected to, and in which policy terms.

In London the reasons we see most often on householder schemes are about scale and the neighbours: an extension too deep or too tall beside a boundary, a dormer that dominates the roof, windows that overlook a garden, or a design out of keeping with the street. Each points to a different fix, so we read the reasons one by one rather than shrinking the whole scheme and hoping.

London roofscape of mansard dormers and chimney stacks, where a refused dormer is often redrawn smaller or set back from the eaves — A roof extension refused for its bulk is usually redrawn set back from the eaves and the party walls, not simply made narrower.

What to change after a refusal

Change the thing the reason names, and say so plainly. If the refusal was about loss of light to a neighbour, the redraw usually reduces depth or height on that boundary, or changes the roof shape so it slopes away. If it was about overlooking, windows move, become high-level or use obscure glazing. If it was about design, materials and proportions change to match the host house.

Two things rarely work. Resubmitting the same drawings with more argument tends to meet the same reasons. And cutting the scheme everywhere can lose the space you wanted while leaving the actual objection in place. If the officer's report says what would have been acceptable, that is the strongest guide to the redraw. A planning amendment is a different job: it changes a scheme that was approved, not one that was refused.

If you are comparing quotes for the redraw, check how each one treats later changes; we set out what to ask in how many revisions drawing fees include.

Rear extension under construction on a semi-detached house, with blockwork walls and a steel opening the back of the house — A rear extension refused for its depth on the boundary is often redrawn shorter on that side and full depth elsewhere.

Appeal or resubmit?

An appeal asks an inspector to overturn the council's decision on the same plans. You can appeal a householder refusal for up to 12 weeks from the date on the decision letter. The Inspectorate's guide is clear that if an amendment to the scheme would overcome the reasons, the applicant should submit a revised planning application to the council, because an appeal disregards new evidence and is decided on the application the council saw.

So the choice turns on whether you believe the refused plans were right. If they were, our householder appeal post covers that route and its cost. If the scheme needs to change, a redraw and a new application is the route, and a new application has a statutory decision period of 8 weeks for all other types of development than major schemes, unless you agree longer with the council.

What a redrawn householder resubmission costs

Our redrawn planning drawings: £745
Council householder application fee: £548
Total: £1,293

There is no free go any more

For years a refused applicant could resubmit a similar scheme on the same site within 12 months without paying the council again. That changed when fees rose on 6 December 2023: the Chief Planner's letter confirmed that the regulations remove the fee exemption for repeat applications (the 'free-go'), with only a transitional allowance for applications refused or withdrawn in the 12 months before.

Some council web pages still mention the free go, but for a refusal today the revised application pays the full fee, which is £548 for a householder application from 1 April 2026. That is one more reason to make the redraw count: a second refusal costs the council fee again as well as more time.

If the work is already built

A refusal of work that has already been carried out is a different problem, because the council can also take enforcement action. If the work is already built, what to do when your drawings do not match your house explains that route. For a scheme not yet built, the redraw and a fresh application through our planning drawings service is the usual next step, and we tell you honestly if we think the refused plans should be appealed instead.

Sources

Every figure in this article, where it comes from and a link to the original.

state clearly and precisely the full reasons for the refusal: PPG Determining a planning application, Paragraph 020: (source wording: "where planning permission is refused, to state clearly and precisely the full reasons for the refusal"). www.gov.uk
8 weeks for all other types of development: PPG Determining a planning application, Paragraph 001: statutory time limits (source wording: "8 weeks for all other types of development"). www.gov.uk
remove the fee exemption for repeat applications (the 'free-go'): DLUHC Chief Planner letter, 14 November 2023: (source wording: "Remove the fee exemption for repeat applications (the 'free-go')"). assets.publishing.service.gov.uk
6 December 2023: DLUHC Chief Planner letter, 14 November 2023: (source wording: "The new fees will come into force from the start of 6th December 2023"). assets.publishing.service.gov.uk
for up to 12 weeks from the date on the decision letter: GOV.UK Appeal a householder planning decision: (source wording: "you can appeal for up to 12 weeks from the date on the decision letter"). www.gov.uk
the applicant should submit a revised planning application to the council: Planning Inspectorate, Planning appeals procedural guide (applications dated on or after 1 April 2026), 7.3.6: (source wording: "they should submit a revised planning application to the LPA"). www.gov.uk
£548: Statutory householder planning application fee, single dwellinghouse, from 1 April 2026. assets.publishing.service.gov.uk

Questions people ask

Do I need permission from my first designer to use someone else?

No permission is needed to appoint someone new. We draw the revised scheme ourselves from our own survey rather than editing another firm's files, which avoids reusing their drawings.

Can I resubmit for free within 12 months?

Not any more. The free go was removed from 6 December 2023, so a revised application pays the full council fee.

Can I add changes to an appeal instead?

Generally not. An appeal is normally decided on the plans the council refused, so changed plans usually go in as a new application.

Will the redrawn scheme be approved?

We cannot promise that; the council decides. What we can do is make sure every reason for refusal has a clear, drawn answer.

How long does the council take on the new application?

The statutory period for a householder application is 8 weeks from validation, unless you agree a longer period with the council.

Photographs: Chris Whippet (CC BY-SA 2.0); William Dmytrow (Unsplash License); Brett Jordan (Pexels License).

Planning Drawings: a fixed fee from £745

Read more on the planning drawings service page, or send your address below and we reply within one working day.

Planning Drawings

from £745

£545 drawings + £200 survey (£745 total)

Every price is the full fixed fee you pay. No VAT is charged. Council application fees are paid to the council separately.

Get a fixed quote Call 020 7864 7245

What you get

A reading of every reason for refusal and the officer's report
A survey check before anything is redesigned
Redrawn plans, elevations and sections that answer each reason
A covering note setting each reason beside its change
Location and block plans with the new application
Submission of the revised application to the council