Self Build Exemption for CIL

 

 

New Dwelling

 

You can apply for exemption from CIL if you are building your own home, and intend to live in it as your main residence.

To make a claim, you must:

• assume liability to pay CIL via Form 2
• certify that the scheme will meet the criteria to qualify as self build development using Form 7 Part 1
• submit a Commencement Notice, before development commences
• within 6 months of completion, send the local authority evidence to confirm the project is self build using Form 7 Part 2

The procedure is strict. In Gardiner v Hertsmere Borough Council [2022] EWCA Civ 1162, the Court of Appeal described the self-build exemption procedure as an essential part of the statutory regime: compliance is obligatory, not optional. In particular, a valid claim depends on the claimant having assumed liability before making the claim. The case also confirms why retrospective section 73A permission cannot be used to obtain a self-build exemption after the development has already been carried out.

When submitting Form 7 Part 2 after completion you must supply supporting evidence, including:

• A compliance certificate for this development (building completion notice, compliance certificate),
• Title deeds of the property to which this exemption relates (freehold or leasehold) and
• Council Tax bill or certificate along with two of the following items – Utility Bill, Bank Statement or Local electoral roll registration

In addition, you must also provide a copy of one of the following:

• An approved claim from HM Revenue and Customs under ‘VAT431NB: VAT refunds for DIY housebuilders’
• Proof of a specialist Self Build or Custom Build Warranty for your development
• Proof of an approved Self Build or Custom Build Mortgage from a bank or building society for your development

The forms are available using the links below:

• Form 7: Self build exemption claim form Part 1
• Form 7: Self build exemption claim form Part 2

If the required evidence is not submitted to the local authority within the 6 month time period, the full levy charge becomes payable.

It is important that you don’t begin work until you submit your application for exemption and you receive notice from the local authority with a decision. If you start any work, including digging foundations, your application for exemption will be refused.

For a whole self-build home you must submit a valid Commencement Notice before starting work. Since the 2019 amendments, failure to do so does not automatically remove an exemption already granted; instead the collecting authority may impose a CIL surcharge of 20% of the amount that would have been payable without the exemption, capped at £2,500. Starting before the exemption itself has been granted is a different and much more serious mistake.

A self-build exemption can be lost if a disqualifying event occurs before the end of the three-year clawback period. That can include disposing of the land or otherwise ceasing to satisfy the self-build requirements. Importantly, the High Court has confirmed that a disqualifying event can occur before the dwelling is completed; the protection does not begin only on completion. See R (on the application of Stephen Luck) v Bracknell Forest Borough Council [2025] EWHC 2984 (Admin). The same judgment also confirms that regulation 65(7) is not a general power allowing a collecting authority simply to waive an otherwise valid CIL liability.

Further advice is available on the Government site here.

 

Residential annex

 

You can apply for exemption from CIL if you are building a residential annexe. To qualify, you must have a material interest in the main dwelling, occupy it as your sole or main residence, and the annexe must be wholly within its curtilage and comprise one new dwelling. Our CIL annexe exemption guide covers the full claim, Commencement Notice, clawback and appeal rules.

Claims for self build residential annex exemption should be submitted on CIL Form 8, which can be found using the link below.

• Form 8: Residential Annex Exemption claim form

You must also assume liability to pay CIL and submit a Commencement Notice prior to development starting.

There is no requirement for the occupier of the annex to be related to the owner of the main dwelling, or to commit to staying there for a specified period. If you receive exemption and then use the main house for a purpose other than a single dwelling, let out the annex separately, or sell either the main dwelling or the annexe separately from the other, then you will be charged the full amount for CIL. CIL is registered as a land charge and so if any of these disqualifying events occur within three years from the date of completion the local authority can withdraw the exemption and the full CIL charge can become due.

Further advice is available on the Government website here.

 

Residential extension

 

If the new build floorspace of your residential extension is 100 sq m or more, then you will be liable for CIL. Residential extensions below 100 sqm are already exempt from the levy under the minor development exemption as part of Form 1. Therefore you must claim relief if your extension of over 100 sq m qualifies.

You can apply for exemption from CIL if you are building a residential extension. To qualify for an exemption you must have a material interest in the main dwelling, occupy the extended dwelling as your sole or main residence and the extension must be an enlargement to the main dwelling only and not comprise a new dwelling.

Claims for a self build exemption for a residential extension should be submitted on Form 9: Self Build Residential Extension Exemption Claim Form. This form is available using the link below.

• Form 9: Residential Extension Exemption claim form

You must claim and obtain the residential extension exemption before starting any work. Unlike a self-build home or residential annexe exemption, a residential extension exemption does not require a Commencement Notice. The exemption process still needs to be completed before commencement.

Further advice is available on the Government website here.

 

Don’t forget!

 

It is important that you don’t begin work until you submit your application for exemption and you receive notice from the local authority with a decision. If you start any work, including digging foundations, your application for exemption will be refused.

The notice requirements depend on which exemption you are claiming. A whole self-build home and a residential annexe require a Commencement Notice before work starts; a residential extension exemption does not. Where a Commencement Notice is required but is missed after the exemption has already been granted, the regulations provide for a surcharge rather than automatic loss of that exemption.

Starting work before the exemption itself has been granted is different: that can prevent the exemption being obtained at all. The order of the paperwork therefore matters.

There are narrow Valuation Office Agency appeal routes relating to these exemptions. Regulation 116A applies where a residential annexe claim is refused because the authority decides the annexe is not wholly within the curtilage of the main dwelling. Regulation 116B concerns the amount of a self-build housing exemption. Both normally have a 28-day deadline, and commencement can invalidate the appeal. Our guide to CIL appeals covers the grounds and deadlines in full.