Community Infrastructure Levy process

All forms relevant to the Community Infrastructure Levy can be found on the Planning Portal.

Sending additional information

Applications that are liable for CIL must complete and submit a Form 1: CIL Additional Information form alongside the other planning application forms.

The additional questions form can be downloaded from the Planning Portal, together with a guidance note on how to complete this form.

The information provided on this form will enable us to determine whether or not CIL is payable and to calculate the CIL amount correctly.

Form 1: CIL Additional Information and Guidance note (on Planning Portal).

Issuing a liability notice

When planning permission has been granted for a development that is liable to pay CIL, a CIL Liability Notice along with the Decision Notice will be issued.

In cases where planning permission is granted on appeal, the CIL Liability Notice will be issued as soon as possible after the appeal decision is issued.

The CIL Liability Notice will include all relevant floor space contained in the development, including floor space that may be eligible for affordable housing or charitable relief.

Once a Liability Notice is issued, the CIL charge will be registered on the Land Charges Register.

Appeals 

The Liability Notice sets out the amount payable for CIL for the development. If you consider that the amount has been incorrectly calculated, you can request that we recalculate it.

If, following recalculation, you still consider the amount is incorrect you can appeal against the decision to the Valuation Office Agency (VOA).

Before starting development

Prior to starting development, you will need to send us two forms;

Form 2: Assumption of Liability (on Planning Portal) -  this informs us who will be liable for paying the CIL relating to the development and must be received prior to commencement.

Form 6: Commencement Notice (on Planning Portal) -  this informs us when the development is going to commence, and forms the basis of the dates that CIL payments become due and must be received prior to commencement.

If we don't receive both the Form 2: Assumption of Liability and Form 6: Commencement Notice before you start work we will impose penalty surcharges and you will lose the ability to pay in instalments. 

If no one assumes liability to pay, then liability will rest with the landowner.

The Form 2: Assumption of Liability form may be submitted along with the planning application, or at any time between submission of the planning application and commencement of the development, once it is known who will be assuming liability to pay CIL.

Permitted development

In a few cases, permitted development (that is development which does not require planning permission) may be of sufficient size to be liable to pay CIL.

You must serve a Form 5: Notice of Chargeable Development on us before the development is commenced. The CIL charge is then calculated and applied as though planning permission had been issued.

The Form 5: Notice of Chargeable Development form can be downloaded here: 

Form 5: Notice of Chargeable Development (on Planning Portal)

Withdrawing or transferring liability 

If the person who has assumed liability to pay subsequently wishes to withdraw or transfer their liability to someone else (e.g. because they have sold the site), then will they need to complete the appropriate forms and send it to us. The forms are available below.

Form 3: Withdrawal of Assumption of Liability (on Planning Portal)

Form 4: Transfer of Assumed Liability (on Planning Portal)

Applying for relief

If developments are eligible for Charitable and/ or Social Housing Relief, you will need to send us an application for claiming relief using:

Form 10: Charitable and/ or Social Housing Relief Claim (on Planning Portal)

Affordable housing relief can only be claimed after the Form 2: Assumption of Liability form has been forwarded to us, and only by someone who has assumed liability for paying the CIL in respect of the development for which relief is claimed.

If development starts before we have determined the amount of relief and issued a revised CIL Liability Notice, the claim for relief will not be given.

Self-build exemptions

Whole house

Claims for exemption should be submitted using: 

Form 7: Self Build Exemption Claim Form Part 1 (on Planning Portal)

This should be followed by further supporting information, when the development is finished using:

Form 7: Self Build Exemption Claim Form Part 2 (on Planning Portal)

Residential Annexes

Claims for exemption should be submitted using:

Form 8: Residential Annex Exemption Claim Form (on Planning Portal)

Extensions to existing houses

Claims for exemption should be submitted using: 

Form 9: Residential Extension Exemption Claim Form (on Planning Portal)

If developments are eligible for Charitable or Social Housing relief, you will need to send us an application for claiming relief using:

Form 10: Charitable and/ or Social Housing Relief Claim (on Planning Portal)

Demand notices and payments

Once we have received a Commencement Notice, we will issue a Demand Notice to the person(s) that have assumed liability to pay the CIL. This notice sets out the date that the CIL must be paid by.

Pay by instalments  

We have an instalments policy for developments that would be liable to pay £200,000 or more, whereby payment can be made in four equal instalments spread over one year.

For developments that would be liable to pay £2 million or more, payment can be made in four equal instalments spread over three years

If payment is due in instalments, the Demand Notice will set out the amount due in each instalment and the date it must be paid by.

Failure to pay 

If payment is not made by the due date, penalty surcharges apply. We do not have the flexibility to defer CIL in the same way that we can for planning obligations, and payment of CIL is enforceable through both the courts and the planning process.

Land charges register

Once we have received the CIL payment due in respect of a development, we will remove the CIL charge from the Land Charges Register.

This process will apply in the vast majority of cases. However there are a few situations where the process may be different.

For example:

• where CIL is payable on permitted development, or
• development granted under a general consent such as a Local Development Order