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Community Infrastructure Levy (CIL)
The Community Infrastructure Levy (CIL) helps local councils to generate funds from developers as a way of supporting local services.
For further information into CIL, how it can support infrastructure and the affected areas, and how you can comply with it, check out our helpful page.
Editor at Arbtech, Rob is a content specialist who manages our ecology and arboriculture services copy to ensure it is accurate, up to date, and insightful for current and future clients.
Community Infrastructure Levy Explained
As communities grow, they naturally place a heavier burden on the existing public services across the area. More residents mean more traffic on the roads, higher demand for school places, and longer queues at medical centres.
Without a reliable way of funding infrastructure updates, local councils would struggle to cope with the rapid expansion, meaning that a specific charge on a new development is needed.
By ensuring that a development contributes to all vital services, the Community Infrastructure Levy (CIL) directly benefits the local community and balances the load instead of relying entirely on the public purse.
Most importantly, it gives local authorities a structured way to raise funds for the local and strategic infrastructure needed to support development.
What is the Community Infrastructure Levy?
Originally introduced as part of the Planning Act 2008, the community infrastructure levy (CIL) offers a fair and transparent method for collecting money from builders.
It helps local councils to deliver roads, parks, health centres and any other new infrastructure that is needed to accommodate growth in the surrounding area.
The CIL replaces older and more unpredictable systems of negotiating contributions on a site-by-site basis.
By creating a set price list, everyone knows exactly what to expect before they start building, speeding up the planning process and getting spades in the ground quicker.
Community Infrastructure Levy Regulations
The CIL regulations dictate how the local planning authority calculates and collects funds.
Before setting any rates, a local council has to identify its infrastructure needs and prove that there is a funding gap in the area.
All of the rules sit alongside other planning obligations, such as a section 106 agreement. While the levy covers broad and area-wide upgrades to support infrastructure, older agreements are now usually reserved for site-specific issues or developer contributions needed to make a specific site viable.
Local councils must also run a public consultation period before adopting any changes, giving residents and developers a chance to review the proposals.
The CIL rules even apply to planning projects built under permitted development rights, meaning you can’t automatically bypass the fee just because you didn’t need a full application.
Community Infrastructure Levy Exemptions
Not every planning project has to pay.
In most cases, minor residential extensions or small domestic outbuildings avoid the charge entirely. Self-builders constructing new houses for their own use can also apply for a full exemption.
Certain types of projects are automatically excluded. For instance, affordable housing contributions are usually exempt to encourage the creation of low-cost homes. Unusual structures that people don’t typically inhabit are also excluded from the fees, like wind turbines.
Sometimes, complicated site conditions play a role. If your development plans included creating flood space underneath a raised building to handle water runoff, for example, the specific area might not count towards your chargeable totals.
With this in mind, you should always check the exact rules in your specific borough.
How to Pay the Community Infrastructure Levy
Paying the Community Infrastructure Levy (CIL) fee involves a clear and staged process.
Once your local council approves your planning project, they will tell you exactly what you need to know. From this point, you will have a legal duty to settle the bill before you start any work on the site.
You will need to notify the local council exactly when you plan to start digging. If you start without telling them, you could face hefty fines and potentially lose the option of paying in instalments.
Community Infrastructure Levy Charging Schedule
Every participating local council publishes what’s known as a CIL charging schedule – a public document to list the exact CIL rates for different types of builds across their district, based on the anticipated infrastructure costs of the area.
Prices will vary depending on where your development site sits and what you intend to build. For example, residential projects in high-value town centres often face higher fees than commercial warehouses on the outskirts.
In order to make it clear, local councils usually divide their map into different charging zones to reflect these local land values.
Community Infrastructure Levy Cost
Your total bill is calculated based on the gross internal area of your planning project.
The local council will measure the net additional floor space you plan to create before multiplying it by their published rate.
More often than not, any chargeable development that creates a large additional internal area of over 100 square metres will trigger a fee. If you are building a new dwelling, however, you need to pay regardless of the size.
The cost is calculated per square metre, making a sprawling new build cost significantly more than a compact cottage.
As a developer, it would be worthwhile to factor the potential CIL charges you will face into your budget early on.
Expert Community Infrastructure Levy Guidance
If you haven’t come up against the Community Infrastructure Levy (CIL) before, it can feel overwhelming to deal with it, especially when you just want to get your planning project moving forward.
With our knowledge and understanding of the planning process, the team at Arbtech can help you to get to grips with your liabilities and find any exemptions that you might qualify for.
Our team works with developers, homeowners and landowners every day, helping to streamline developments and other related matters.
Using our surveys, assessments, reports and plans, you can ensure that your development progresses without any unwanted surprises and unexpected delays.
Reach Out to Our Helpful Team
If you need further details about how the fees for CIL could affect your development plans and your specific site, the best thing you can do is get in touch and allow our team to help you.
We can review your architectural drawings and site plans before giving you straightforward advice on your next steps and further information on anything you’re unsure about.
For general support and to get a free quote for any surveys you need, contact our team over the phone, via email or by filling out one of the contact forms on our website.
Yes, homeowners are potentially liable if their extension exceeds 100 square metres or if they are building an entirely new home. The fee applies as soon as you are granted planning permission or use permitted rights for a qualifying project.
The exact amount depends on your local council's rates and the size of your project. Once your plans are approved, the council will send you a liability notice detailing the exact figure you owe.
The landowner is ultimately responsible for the CIL liability. You must submit an assumption of liability form after receiving planning consent, alongside a commencement notice before starting work. If you skip this step, the bill falls directly on you.
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