Developers in UK no longer charged for changes to existing planning applications
03-12-2012
 Changes to the community infrastructure levy (CIL) under section 73 of the Town and Country Planning Act 1990 puts an end to councils charging developers twice when making even relatively minor changes to an existing planning consent. But the British Property Federation says that further action is needed if CIL isnt going to frustrate development across the country. Concerns remain within the property industry with regards to CIL charges that are already in place, and many others that are not far behind. It pointed out that Section 106 agreements are not being scaled back and replaced by CIL as originally intended, but instead viewed as an additional tax on development, so called double dipping. ґWere delighted officials have listened to concerns and amended regulation so developers who make changes to an application will not be charged twice on the same site,Ғ said Liz Peace, chief executive of the British Property Federation. However, there are still many issues within the CIL regime that are deterring development, and we urge the Government to make the further changes needed as soon as possible. Both money and time are in short supply for local authorities to prepare their charging schedules. If changes are to be made that will affect this process, it is only fair that they are implemented as soon as possible so as to prevent wasted effort by all,ђ she added.
The CIL was established by the previous government as a way of channelling some of the profits deriving from development into the funding of much needed infrastructure. The Governments intention was to have a system based around a fixed levy that would spread the burden of infrastructure across all developments, large and small, and that was therefore fairer, faster and more certain and transparent than the traditional route of planning obligations, known as Section 106. |
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