The new Community Infrastructure Levy officially launches in Leeds

On monday April 6, the Leeds Property Forum made developers aware that the new Community Infrastructure Levy (CIL) was launched in the city.

The levy applies to new developments in the city when national changes to the existing regulations came into force, and it will collect contributions from developers to local infrastructure facilities such as transport and green space.

The Leeds Property Forum has played a significant part in making sure that the CIL rates are set at a level that won’t prove as a deterrent to the city’s economic recovery or its competitiveness with other UK core cities.

The CIL is a fixed levy on nearly all aspects of new development.

CIL rates will range from £90 sq m for housing development in North Leeds to £5 sq m in the city centre, and new supermarket development above 500m2 will be levied at £110 sq m within the city centre and at £175 sq m outside the city centre.

Furthermore, new office development in the city centre will be charged at £35 sq m., and non-food retail development above 1,000m2 will also be charged at £35/m2 and £55/m2.

Apart from education, medical, sports and leisure, charitable and publicly funded development, all other uses will be levied at £5 sq m.

Richard Serra, director at planning consultancy Quod and CIL spokesman for the Leeds Property Forum, said: “April 6 is an important day in the tax calendar and it is also the day this year that the Community Infrastructure Levy (CIL) came to Leeds. Leeds City Council is the 30th local authority nationally to adopt a CIL in its area and the first across Yorkshire and the Humber to do so.

“As a Labour initiative originally, CIL is likely to be here to stay irrespective of the outcome of the General Election on May 7. Whether it will generate enough revenue to enable Leeds City Council to deliver the city’s growth infrastructure remains to be seen and there will be discussions subsequently around where and how CIL revenues are spent. In the meantime, landowners and developers need to familiarise themselves with an important new component of the planning system.”

Mr Serra noted that CIL replaces nearly all of the current S.106 planning obligations regime, which will continue to deliver affordable housing and site-specific items.

He added: “CIL will be levied on net additional floor area and so in many cases, existing floor space on a site can be deducted to reduce liability. Landowners and developers will need to bear this in mind when acquiring or preparing sites for development. Leeds City Council has also chosen to include provisions for payment by instalment and an exceptional circumstances policy, which in certain very specific circumstances where there is a high S.106 cost, may provide relief from CIL. Developers and landowners can also make payments-in-kind in the form of land or infrastructure under certain circumstances.

“The money raised from CIL will be used to fund the infrastructure that will be necessary to support the city’s growth, for example NGT, the Flood Alleviation Scheme, primary and secondary education, green infrastructure, sports facilities, district heating, and public health facilities.”

Looking to promote your product/service to SME businesses in your region? Find out how Bdaily can help →