Trent: defective CIL liability notices
R (Alison Trent) v Hertsmere Borough Council [2021] EWHC 907 (Admin) resulted in a CIL liability notice and a later demand notice being quashed after significant failures by the council.
Do not read Trent as an automatic escape from CIL whenever a notice arrives late. The later Court of Appeal decision in Braithwaite explains why a defective notice is not simply a nullity and why a timely court challenge remains important.
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- Neutral citation
- [2021] EWHC 907 (Admin)
- Court
- High Court, Planning Court
- Judgment date
- 16th April 2021
- Judge
- Lang J
- Case number
- CO/2016/2020
The council had not sent the first notice
The case concerned redevelopment of a house in Radlett. The council created an incomplete liability notice in 2017, but the judge found that it had never been issued or served.
A further liability notice followed about two and a half years after permission was granted. It incorrectly identified the recipient by reference to Mrs Trent’s business rather than naming her as the landowner.
Mrs Trent succeeded in statutory appeals concerning surcharges and the deemed commencement date. The council nevertheless issued another demand for £16,389.75, leading to judicial review.
The notices have a real procedural function
The court explained the importance of the sequence of liability, commencement and demand notices. A liability notice gives the recipient essential information about the charge, any relief and the next procedural steps.
Here the failures were prejudicial. A timely notice would have alerted Mrs Trent to the council’s treatment of her exemption claim and the need to complete the necessary steps before starting work.
The judge held that the delay and the defect in identifying the recipient invalidated the 2019 liability notice. That notice and the subsequent 2020 demand notice were quashed. The CIL she had paid to avoid threatened enforcement was to be repaid.
Why Braithwaite must be read alongside Trent
In Braithwaite [2022] EWCA Civ 1716, the Court of Appeal explained that a notice issued late is liable to be challenged, but is not automatically a nullity. Whether to quash it depends on the ordinary principles of judicial review and the circumstances.
A revised notice does not erase an earlier notice’s history or restart time for attacking its original defects. A developer cannot safely wait for later enforcement or a revised demand before considering a challenge.
The later court distinguished the serious prejudice and circumstances in Trent. It did not treat every failure in timing or service as producing the same result.
A surcharge appeal is not a power to quash liability
The inspector’s jurisdiction in a surcharge appeal is limited. Success against a surcharge is not itself a court order setting aside the underlying liability notice.
Trent’s account of historical self-build requirements also needs care: the judgment expressly states that the September 2019 amendments did not apply to its facts. Do not use those passages as a checklist for a different development without checking the applicable regulations.
Read the Trent judgment
The complete High Court judgment is available to Gold Members. Read it together with the linked Braithwaite judgment rather than relying on a headline about late notices.
Trent Case Law Page Updated: 12th September 2026