The Community Infrastructure Levy (CIL) was introduced in April 2010 with a view to providing a faster, fairer, more certain and transparent means of collecting developer contributions to infrastructure than individually negotiated Section 106 planning obligations.
However, the implementation of CIL in many areas has been hampered by the slow progress in preparing up-to-date local plans, as well as issues of development viability and the timing for the physical delivery of infrastructure. The Government has announced that less than 100 authorities are currently charging CIL, with a further 200 authorities still working towards introducing it. As a consequence, the ‘cut off’ date for allowing local authorities to collect ‘pooled’ Section 106 contributions (which CIL was intended to replace) was extended until April of this Year – a full 5 years after CIL was first introduced.
The Government has now confirmed that Liz Peace will lead and chair an independent group conducting a review of CIL to assess the extent to which it has or could provide an effective mechanism for funding infrastructure. A key element of the review will be to consider the operation of CIL in support of the Government’s wider housing and growth objectives, and Communities Secretary Greg Clark commented that “this independent review will examine how we can improve the community infrastructure levy to ensure it best benefits local communities whilst delivering the houses the country needs”.
The review is keen to hear from all parties involved in CIL, including local authorities, developers, community groups, and lawyers. The consultation runs from 19 November 2015 until 15 January 2016. If you would like further information then please contact us.