The Government has finally published its detailed draft proposals and regulations for implementing the Community Infrastructure Levy (CIL) for consultation.
CIL is the new discretionary development charge which comes into force in April 2010 although there are now fears that at least one of the aims of the draft CIL regulations is to force local planning authorities into adopting the scheme.
The Planning Act 2008 laid the foundations for CIL but indicated that it would be optional. Indeed some local planning authorities have already introduced their own tariff schemes based on planning obligations (s106 agreements). However, the draft regulations issued now propose restricting the use of s106 agreements after two years. This could be interpreted as an attempt to remove any levy alternatives. If s106 tariffs are removed then this removes any notion that CIL will be optional for local planning authorities.
Local planning authorities are going to be required to put in place both an adopted core strategy and a charging schedule before CIL can be implemented. These require consultation and independent examination. Consequently, CIL will take some considerable time to put in place; a requirement neither recognised nor provided for in the transitional arrangements.
The Government however insists that it is not considering making CIL compulsory and is inviting views on whether a two-year transition is sufficient.
The documentation also proposes:
• charges based on simple formulae relating the amount of the charge to the size and character of the development paying it;
• payment on commencement of development;
• levy on most types of residential, commercial and industrial buildings rather than development;
• a 'de minimus' threshold of 100 square metres for non-residential development;
• an exemption for householder development by homeowners; and
• more detailed definitions of 'development' and 'building' because development such as roads, railways, pipelines, overhead cables and wind turbines would not be liable to pay CIL, even though such things are building operations for some planning purposes.
The consultation documents can be found at http://www.communities.gov.uk/publications/planningandbuilding/communitylevyconsultation and the deadline for submission of comments thereon is the 23rd October 2009.
For further information on this or any other Planning, Energy or Environmental enquiries please contact David Merson, Head of Planning and Environmental Law at dmerson@steeleslaw.co.uk or telephone 020 7421 1742.