Question to the Department for Levelling Up, Housing & Communities:

To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, whether he has made an assessment of the potential merits of the community infrastructure levy and infrastructure levy falling due within 12 months of planning permission being granted to help deliver infrastructure with and in advance of housing.

The Community Infrastructure Levy (CIL) must be paid within sixty days of works commencing on a development, unless an authority chooses to exercise discretion by setting its own instalment policy allowing payment over a longer term. An authority is also able to make use of temporary flexibilities to defer payments from small or medium enterprises, introduced in response to COVID-19. Overall therefore, CIL payments can, and often will, be payable, and be available to an authority to fund infrastructure, prior to the completion of the development liable to pay.

However, we intend to reform the current approach to developer contributions by creating a new, single system, the Infrastructure Levy. This new levy would be a flat rate, value-based charge, set nationally, at either a single rate, or at area specific rates, and charged on the final value of a development. We also intend to allow authorities to borrow against revenues from the new levy to better enable them to forward fund infrastructure.

Our proposals were set out in our ‘Planning for the Future’ consultation which closed on 29 October. We are analysing the consultation feedback thoroughly and holding meetings with industry and local authority representatives to understand the effects of our proposals. We will respond formally as soon as possible.