Community Infrastructure Levy

The Community Infrastructure Levy (CIL) is a charge that Local Authorities and the Mayor of London can set on new development to help pay for community infrastructure. It is designed to replace the use of Planning Obligations tariffs.

The intention is to:

• offer predictability for developers and local authorities
• maintain a balance between the cost of funding infrastructure and the viability of development.

Developments where the Community Infrastructure Levy will apply

The Community Infrastructure Levy applies to new developments consisting of buildings that people normally go to, and where:

• 100 sq m or more of gross internal floor area is added to existing floor area
• a new dwelling is created, even where the additional floor area is below 100 sq m.

CIL does not apply to:

• buildings which people only go to occasionally, for example a plant that people visit only occasionally for inspections
• development that does not consist of buildings.

Social housing and floorspace to be used for charitable purposes are exempt from paying CIL.

The amount of CIL payable relates to the size, type and location of the new development. The gross floor area of any existing buildings that are to be demolished would be deducted from the final CIL liability.

Mayor of London CIL

Following the independent examiner's recommendation, the London Mayor agreed his CIL charging schedule on 29 February 2012. Further detailed information is available on the Mayor of London's website. The Mayoral CIL takes effect from 1 April 2012. It is intended that the levy will raise £300 million towards the delivery of Crossrail.

The Mayor of London, together with Transport for London (TfL) has issued a CIL note, which provides information for applicants on the London Mayor's Levy.

Mayor of London CIL in Royal Greenwich

In Royal Greenwich, the Mayoral CIL charge will be £35 per sq m of net additional floorspace, for certain developments in the borough, where planning permission is granted from 1 April 2012.

Any relevant development that receives planning permission on or after 1 April 2012 will be required to pay the Mayoral CIL charge, including:

• cases where a planning application was submitted before 1 April 2012, but not approved by then
• cases where the Royal Borough has made a resolution to grant planning permission (to allow a section 106 agreement to be signed), but has not formally granted permission until after that date
• cases where a planning appeal is decided after 1 April, regardless of when the appeal was made.

The exact CIL charge for each development will be agreed in a 'liability notice' provided by the Royal Borough after the grant of planning permission, but before the commencement of development.

Developers will need to make payment in accordance with a strict timetable, and there will be penalties for non-compliance.

To help calculate whether your development is CIL liable, please send a completed Additional Information Requirement Form to the Royal Borough of Greenwich as part of your planning application. You can download the form on the Planning Portal website, which is provided as a link on your right.

Royal Borough of Greenwich CIL

The Royal Borough will issue an indicative programme for the delivery of its own CIL in due course.

Further information

The Planning Portal, Mayor of London and Transport for London websites provide further information on the CIL. You can find links to these pages from the 'Useful links' section on the right of this page.

If you have further questions regarding the introduction of CIL, please contact Sustainability and Renewal.