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Like many readers, my wife and I found the process of getting outline planning permission for our self build plot a long and tortuous process. In fact, the period from submitting our application to formal consent being granted was 39 weeks. We were therefore very pleased to discover that submissions made after 31st October 2013 can get a full refund of the application fee, where a council takes more than 25 weeks to make a determination (except where an extension has been agreed in writing). We have recently reclaimed, thanks to this legislation, and found it extremely easy and straightforward – a short email to the planning department and the money was in our bank account within a week.