Where a local authority has adopted CIL, a developer who has assumed liability to pay the CIL charges must pay CIL prior to commencement of the development otherwise a penalty for late payment may be due.In a recent appeal to the Planning Inspectorate a developer who had failed to submit a Commencement Notice to the local authority argued that works of demolition to clear the site ready for development should not be considered as commencing the development requiring prior payment of CIL.
The Community Infrastructure Levy Regulations 2010 state that “development is to be treated as commencing on the earliest date on which any material operation begins to be carried out on the relevant land”. Under the Town and Country Planning Act 1990 “any work of demolition of a building” is considered to be a material operation. The developer should therefore have submitted a Commencement Notice and made the CIL payment before carrying out demolition works. The developer had argued that the local authority did not know the CIL procedures which had been a factor in his non-compliance with the Regulations. The Inspector, however, was not able to take the local authority’s conduct into account.
This decision highlights the fact that it is important for developers to be fully aware of the procedures under the CIL Regulations to avoid having to pay surcharges for late payment. Developers must also remember that very minor works (not just demolition) can commence development and trigger the liability to pay CIL and they need to be aware of this before carrying out any redevelopment works.
The Planning Inspectorate now publish decisions on CIL appeals and a link to the appeal website can be found here.
For further advice please contact our specialist team on 01392 207020 or email enquiries@tozers.co.uk
