This summary below is based on the CLG document
‘The CIL: An Overview’ [May 2011]. This, and the CIL regulations,
[see below for full references], should be consulted for definitive
wording on the various aspects of the scheme.
What is the Community Infrastructure Levy
The Community Infrastructure Levy allows local authorities to
raise funds from developers undertaking new building projects in
their areas. The money can be used to fund a wide range of
infrastructure needed as a result of development.
The levy is intended to fill the funding gaps that remain once
existing sources of funding have been taken into account.
Is sport included?
The Planning Act 2008 provides a wide definition of
infrastructure. This includes indoor and outdoor sports facilities.
Play areas, parks and green spaces are also included.
What types of development will pay the levy?
Residential and commercial development of over 100 sqm, or
involving at least one new residential unit, will pay the levy.
Social housing schemes and developments used wholly or mainly by
charities will not pay. Relief can be offered by local authorities
in exceptional circumstances, for example where individual schemes
can establish they are not viable should the levy be applied in
full or in part. Charity Landowners will benefit from full relief
from the levy provided the development is for mainly for cahritable
purposes.
Payment must be in pounds per square metre of net additional
floorspace in a development.
Who collects the levy?
Charging authorities are district councils, unitary authorities
and the London Boroughs.
How will the levy be spent?
The levy is intended to focus on the provision of new
infrastructure and should not be used to remedy existing
deficiencies unless these will be made more severe by the new
development.
The levy can be used to increase the capacity of existing
infrastructure or to repair failing existing infrastructure, if
that is necessary to support development.
The Government intends that a meaningful proportion of levy
proceeds raised in each neighbourhood should go back to that
neighbourhood to help manage the impact of development.
Authorities will also retain the ability to use the levy to
address the cumulative impact on infrastructure that may occur
further away from the development. This provision could assist
sports providers looking to provide more strategic facilities such
as playing fields, sports centres and swimming pools.
Cross boundary working
Local authorities may pool their revenues with those of others
to support the delivery of sub-regional infrastructure that would
support the development of their area.
Deciding the levy’s rate and infrastructure planning
The levy is intended to encourage development by creating a
balance between collecting revenue to fund infrastructure and
ensuring that the charge is not so high that they put development
across an area at risk.
In setting rates, authorities will need to draw on any
infrastructure planning carried out to support the strategy laid
out in the development plan for their area. Sport England will
encourage authorities to use its planning tools to help assess the
needs for sporting and recreational infrastructure in the context
of growth and change within their area.
Differential rates
The levy rate can vary according to the assessed viability of
development in different parts of an authority’s area. For example,
there may be a lower rate in an inner urban neighbourhood, than on
a green field site where residential development is more
profitable.
Transfers of land
Charging authorities may accept transfers of land as payments in
kind for the whole or part of the levy, as long as they are to be
used for infrastructure provision.
Useful Links
CLICK HERE for the CIL overview document (May 2011)
CLICK
HERE for the CIL Regulations (April 2010)
CLICK HERE for the CLG advice on preparing charging schedules (
March 2010)