What is CIL?

 

CIL stands for the Community Infrastructure Levy. It is a charge that some councils add to new building work, and the money pays for the things a growing area needs, such as school places, roads, green spaces and health facilities.

It was set up by the Planning Act 2008, and the detailed rules started on 6 April 2010. It is not charged everywhere. Your council can only charge CIL if it has consulted on a price list, approved it and published it. That price list is called a charging schedule. In June 2026 the government said that over half of local planning authorities in England now charge CIL. The current national rules and procedure are set out in the government’s Community Infrastructure Levy guidance.

CIL is worked out from the size of what you are building, not from what it is worth, and it is not something you negotiate. It is also separate from the fee you pay to submit a planning application. If you are building in London, a second Mayoral CIL charge is added on top.

This page is the full introduction. If you want quick answers to specific questions instead, try our CIL frequently asked questions. For the paperwork in the right order, use our current CIL process and CIL forms guides.

 

 

 

 

 

Which building work has to pay CIL

 

Two things can make a development liable:

• most new buildings with 100 square metres or more of new floorspace, which is roughly the footprint of a small three bedroom bungalow
• any new house or flat, whatever its size, even if it is well under 100 square metres

That second point catches people out. A small new home can be charged when a large extension to an existing home is not.

Some development sits outside the levy altogether. A building into which people do not normally go, or go only intermittently to inspect or maintain fixed plant or machinery, is generally outside CIL. That exception applies to the building as a whole; a plant room or other non-occupied part inside an otherwise chargeable building is not simply stripped out of the gross internal area. Your council’s charging schedule is also important because some uses are set at a nil rate.

 

How your CIL bill is worked out

 

CIL is charged per square metre of new floorspace. The council measures the gross internal area, which is the floor area inside the outside walls, added up across every storey. Our CIL calculation guide explains the Schedule 1 formula, indexation and the deductions which can change the final bill.

The rate per square metre comes from the charging schedule. Rates differ from council to council, and within one council they often differ by area and by what you are building, so houses, shops and offices can all be charged at different rates. Some kinds of development are set at zero.

Rates also move with an index every year, so the figure in the schedule when it was adopted is not the figure you will pay. That is why we do not publish rates here. Look up your own council’s current charging schedule, or ask them.

Where you are replacing an existing building, qualifying existing floorspace can reduce the net chargeable area. But two separate questions need to be answered: is the physical area actually GIA? and does that GIA qualify for the statutory existing-building deduction?

A change of use or conversion can produce a very different CIL result from a new-build scheme because the existing building, its lawful use and the route by which planning permission is granted can all matter.

If a permission is later varied under section 73, the levy is not simply recalculated as a brand-new permission at today’s rate. Our CIL and section 73 guide explains the special comparison rules.

 

Existing floorspace, lofts and demolition credit

 

This distinction matters particularly with lofts. The fact that a roof space is boarded, used for storage or physically sits inside the building does not automatically mean it is gross internal area for CIL.

In CIL Appeal 1891221, published in August 2026, four loft/storage areas were disputed. One area shown with permanent stair access was accepted as GIA; three areas reached through loft hatches were rejected because, on the evidence, they did not comprise a qualifying floor level. A separate 2025 appeal also rejected a loft despite the appellant describing the access as fixed and permanent, because the Appointed Person regarded it as a loft ladder rather than a permanent staircase.

The decisions do not create an absolute legal rule that every loft needs a conventional staircase. They do show why permanent access, structural floor level, approved drawings, photographs and evidence of use need to be considered together. Boarding and household storage alone should not be assumed to settle the point. Low headroom is not automatically fatal either: the RICS GIA definition used in these appeals includes areas with headroom below 1.5 metres.

Only after establishing the GIA should you apply the Schedule 1 existing-building rules. Where the in-use test applies, the relevant building must contain a part that has been in lawful use for a continuous period of at least six months within the three years ending on the day planning permission first permits the chargeable development.

If demolition is proposed, collect the evidence before the building is demolished. A measured survey, clear floor plans, dated photographs, evidence of stair or hatch access and records demonstrating lawful use can make the difference if the collecting authority later disputes the deduction. Our CIL FAQ now covers the loft/GIA point in more detail.

Do not confuse that CIL test with Vacant Building Credit. VBC is a separate national planning-policy mechanism affecting affordable housing contributions, with a different test for the existing vacant building.

 

When CIL has to be paid

 

The trigger is starting work, not getting permission. In the words of the regulations, CIL is payable on commencement.

The usual order of events runs like this:

• you get planning permission, and the council issues a Liability Notice setting out the charge
• someone formally takes on the debt, in writing, by assuming liability
• where required, you tell the council in writing before you start using a Commencement Notice; a residential extension with the specific extension exemption is the important exception
• the council issues a Demand Notice saying what is due and when

Miss a step and CIL surcharges and interest can be added on top of the charge itself. Some councils let you pay by instalments, but only where they have an instalment policy and only if you have followed the procedure. Our CIL process page walks through it, and the paperwork is set out on our CIL forms page.

 

Exemptions, reliefs and the trap that catches homeowners

 

You may not have to pay at all. There are exemptions and reliefs for self-build homes, for annexes built in the grounds of your own home, for large extensions to the home you live in, for qualifying social housing and for charities.

Here is the part that has ruined people. You must apply for the exemption and have the council confirm it in writing before you start work. If you begin first, the exemption is lost, even though you would have qualified for it. Getting permission retrospectively, after work has started, can lose it too.

This is not a small technicality. Householders have been left with bills running into tens of thousands of pounds because a form went in late, or in the wrong order. Read our pages on CIL exemptions and reliefs and the self-build exemption before you touch the site.

 

What the government is changing

 

On 25 June 2026 the Minister of State for Housing and Planning wrote to every CIL charging authority in England about this exact problem. Three things came out of that letter.

First, CIL is staying. The government said it remains committed to strengthening and improving the CIL regime.

Second, it will consult on changing the CIL rules so that householders and self-builders who would have qualified are not hit with unexpected bills because of a procedural slip. That consultation had not been published when this page was written, so the rules have not changed yet. Follow the current procedure to the letter.

Third, for people already charged, councils were reminded that they have discretion over what steps they take to collect and when, that heavy-handed action such as threats of forced sale or criminal proceedings is not something the rules require, and that a council can make a discretionary payment from its own general funds in exceptional cases. That is not a refund and nobody has a right to one, but it is worth raising if you are in that position.

 

CIL, section 106 and the other charges

 

CIL is not the only requirement that attaches to a permission rather than being applied for. A section 106 agreement can apply as well, and the two are different animals: CIL is a fixed price list, while a section 106 is negotiated for the particular site. Our planning gain guide explains how CIL, Section 106, affordable housing and other developer contributions fit together. Most permissions also carry a biodiversity net gain requirement, which works differently again.

CIL does not apply everywhere in the UK. There is no CIL in Scotland, and it applies in only part of Wales. Even in England, if your council has never adopted a charging schedule there is no CIL to pay.

 

If you think your CIL bill is wrong

 

There is no ordinary planning appeal against CIL. You cannot use the route you would use against a refused application. The steps are these, and the deadlines are short:

• first, ask the council in writing to review how it worked out the charge, within 28 days of the day the liability notice was issued
• then, if you still think it is wrong, appeal to the Valuation Office Agency, within 60 days of the day that liability notice was issued
• separate appeals go to the Planning Inspectorate about surcharges, and about the date the council says you started

Do not start work while any of this is running. A review or an appeal about the amount lapses the moment development begins, and you lose it.

Our full guide to CIL appeals sets out each route, the grounds you are allowed to run, and where every deadline starts counting from.

Refusal of the underlying application is a separate question. No permission means no CIL, and if your application is refused you can appeal in the normal way: see our page on planning appeals.

 

We are happy to check your CIL forms before they go in. Send us the CIL details if you would like help checking the forms, liability or notice sequence before work starts.

If you are confused by CIL it is one of the subjects that we can cover in our Zoom calls with Ian. You can book a session here. 

 

 

Community Infrastructure Levy (CIL)

 

 

CIL Page Updated: 30th August 2026