Community Infrastructure Levy

What is CIL?

The Community Infrastructure Levy (CIL) is a charge that the Council can set for certain new developments in the borough. CIL charges will be based on simple formulae, the size of which can be related to the size, type and location of the new development. This will allow the Council to raise funds from developers undertaking new building projects in the borough. CIL will only be chargeable on new development and the Council must ensure that such rates do not make new development economically unviable.

The existing process of securing on-site infrastructure through Section 106 contributions (Town & Country Planning Act 1990) will be scaled back once a Borough CIL is adopted.

Further information on the Community Infrastructure Levy, including the regulations, can be found at the Communities and Local Government website.

The Mayor of London has introduced a new CIL charge that will be paid by some new developments granted planning permission from 1 April 2012. See further information below regarding the Mayoral CIL.

What are the benefits of CIL?

The proceeds of CIL will be spent on local infrastructure required to support the development of the area.This money will be of benefit to both the local community and the development industry:

  • Local communities will benefit from improved services as the money raised can be spent on a wide range of infrastructure, such as transport schemes, schools, parks and open spaces, health and social care facilities.
  • Developers and landowners will be able to determine more transparently, and at an early stage, the level of contributions they are required to make towards infrastructure provision, rather then solely determined on an individual planning application.

What steps are required to adopt CIL?

There are a number of key tasks involved in preparing and adopting a CIL Charging Schedule; details are shown below:

Infrastructure Delivery Plan: The Council has already prepared an Infrastructure Delivery Plan (IDP) in consultation with the infrastructure and service providers operating in the borough. Further information, the IDP Summary report and the IDP Detailed assessment can be downloaded on the Infrastructure Delivery Plan webpage.

Viability Study: A study to ensure that the proposed CIL rates strike an appropriate balance between the desirability of CIL funding the total costs of infrastructure, and the potential effects of a CIL on the economic viability of development.

  • Preparation: spring/summer 2012
  • Publication: autumn 2012

Charging Schedule: This schedule will set out the Council’s proposed rates of CIL, how it will be calculated and where it intends to make exemptions

  • Preparation: spring to autumn 2012
  • Consultation on Preliminary Draft CIL Charging Schedule: winter 2012/13
  • Publication of Draft CIL Charging Schedule: summer 2013
  • Submission of CIL Charging Schedule: autumn 2013
  • Examination in Public: winter 2013
  • Adoption: spring 2014

What is the Mayoral CIL?

In addition to a local authority setting its own CIL, the Mayor of London is also empowered to charge a CIL for strategic transport. The Mayor has formally approved a new charge, which takes effect on developments that are granted planning permission on or after 1 April 2012 for the funding of Crossrail.

The Mayor is imposing a CIL charge of £50 per square metre in the London Borough of Richmond upon Thames against all but health, education and affordable housing floorspace. CIL will be calculated according to the amount of net additional floorspace a new development will produce.

Your development is likely to be liable for the Mayoral CIL if it:

  • consists of buildings to which people usually go, so it does not apply to buildings to which people only go occasionally to inspect plant, or development that does not consist of buildings; and
  • has 100 square metres or more of gross internal floorspace;or
  • involves building a dwelling even where this is below 100 square metres.

For each relevant planning permission, the Council (and all other London Boroughs) are required to calculate the appropriate amount and issue a liability notice. The Council is then required to collect the payments on behalf of the Mayor once development commences. A CIL calculator to work out the charge for your development is available on the Transport for London website.

The Planning Portal have developed a series of CIL forms that must be completed by the applicant when submitting a planning application.

The Mayor of London, together with Transport for London (TfL), has issued an important leaflet which provides information for all applicants and contact details for enquiries.

Detailed information on the Mayoral CIL can be found on the Transport for London and Mayor’s CIL websites.