Help us to finalise the new Community Infrastructure Levy Charges
City residents and businesses are being asked to give their views on final changes being proposed to the council’s Community Infrastructure Levy (CIL) Draft Charging Schedule.
Once in place, the levy will be a new charge on development that could contribute up to £2 million a year towards much needed citywide infrastructure.People will have eight weeks to feedback on the changes being proposed to charges to be brought in under a Community Infrastructure Levy (CIL), which allows local councils to raise funds from new building developments in their area.
Extra cash
Under the scheme, developers will have to pay a financial contribution to the council when they want to build new homes, shops or student accommodation, depending on the size of the development.
CIL payments can then be spent on supporting infrastructure in need of extra cash including schools, roads, parks, flood defences, health and other community infrastructure.
The latest consultation follows an independent examination of the draft CIL Charging Schedule which took place earlier this year, chaired by an independent Examination Inspector. The charges set out in the charging schedule range from £50 per square metre for shopping unit developments, to £175 per square metre for purpose built student accommodation and new housing coming forward in central Brighton & Hove.
Future development at some larger strategic sites such as at Brighton Marina and the King Alfred Leisure Centre will not incur a CIL charge due to their high development costs and their need to provide significant infrastructure. The changes proposed also include two other sites for a zero charge; the Brighton General Hospital site and the Sackville Trading Estate in Hove.
Latest stage
Councillor Gill Williams, lead member for planning policy, said: “We welcome this latest stage in the process of putting CIL in place and we currently anticipate that CIL will commence next year. CIL will help to fund much needed infrastructure across the city.”
Local authorities have previously relied on Section 106 planning agreements from larger developments to fund local infrastructure. These agreements will be scaled back to provide on-site requirements such as access roads onto the site. CIL will replace off–site payments and will be charged on a wider range of developments.
The council will be allowed to spend the money on infrastructure projects anywhere it’s needed in the city.
The council has based the proposed charging rates on an independent study that found new-build residential development, purpose-built student housing and new retail floor space could all bear a CIL charge within a recommended charging range.
Give your views
Updates on CIL will be included on the council’s Developer Contribution webpage. The consultation closes on September 11th.