Viability, Obligations and Commercial – Page 5

Affordable housing on small sites and the national threshold

The small sites threshold has two limbs: ten dwellings and 1,000 square metres of gross internal floorspace. Designated rural areas can apply a lower figure, and vacant building credit can remove the contribution.

Section 278 works and section 38 adoption compared

A section 278 agreement pays for works to somebody else's road. A section 38 agreement hands over yours. The two carry different bonds, fees, approval routes and programme risks.

Evidencing the loss of a shop under a Class E change

A change within Class E is not development, so frontage policy cannot stop it. The cases where permission is still needed, and the evidence that carries them.

Modifying or discharging a section 106 obligation

A deed of variation works at any time if the authority agrees. The statutory route under section 106A opens after five years and carries a right of appeal.

Drafting section 106 heads of terms for a minor scheme

Most delay on a small section 106 comes from loose heads of terms. How to write obligations a solicitor can draft from without further instructions.

What section 106 can secure that the levy cannot

Section 106 mitigates the impact of one scheme, the levy funds infrastructure generally. How the regulation 122 tests decide which mechanism carries a contribution.

Challenging a CIL bill: reviews, appeals and surcharges

The right to review and appeal a levy calculation is short and can be lost by starting work. Here is the sequence, the appeal bodies, and the evidence that settles a floorspace dispute.

Charitable relief from the Community Infrastructure Levy

Mandatory charitable relief applies everywhere the tests are met. Discretionary relief exists only where the charging authority offers it. Both are lost if work starts before the claim is granted.

CIL relief for extensions and annexes to your own home

CIL relief for home extensions and annexes has to be claimed and granted before work starts. Here is the sequence, the clawback and why claims fail.

The CIL commencement notice and what happens if you miss it

A missed CIL commencement notice costs instalment rights and up to £2,500 in surcharge, even where full relief applies. Here is the sequence and the fix.

Applying the sequential test to offices and leisure uses

Gyms, cinemas, hotels and offices are main town centre uses, so a site outside a defined centre has to pass the sequential test. Here is how the flexibility argument works in practice.

Competing viability appraisals at appeal

Inspectors do not split the difference between two viability appraisals. They make findings on individual inputs, so the appeal turns on benchmark land value, build costs, values and return.

Challenging a CIL liability notice calculation

The deadlines on a CIL liability notice are short and the appeal right disappears the moment work begins, so check the arithmetic the week it arrives.

Getting a planning obligation released once complete

A spent section 106 still shows on the local land charges register until someone asks the council to cancel it, and buyers' solicitors will not ignore it.

Grampian conditions as an alternative to an obligation

Negatively worded conditions deliver off-site works without a deed, but only if the trigger, the completion test and the drawing references are precise.

CIL relief for charities and social housing

Relief from the community infrastructure levy is lost if work starts before the claim is decided. The conditions, the procedure and the clawback events.

Developer return assumptions in planning viability

Set the return and the land value follows. How national guidance frames the range, why affordable units carry a lower figure, and what evidence justifies moving up.

Abnormal costs in a planning viability appraisal

Abnormal cost schedules are reduced for want of evidence, not because the costs are unreasonable. What to claim, what to document and how to avoid double counting.

Build to rent and the affordable private rent discount

Affordable private rent is let and managed by the build to rent operator rather than transferred to a registered provider, and it is held in place by a covenant on the whole scheme.

CIL commencement notices and the surcharge for missing one

Regulation 67 requires a commencement notice before work starts. Missing it triggers a surcharge and cancels instalment rights, making the full levy payable in one sum.

The CIL extension exemption and the 100 m² threshold

New floorspace below 100 m2 escapes the Community Infrastructure Levy without a claim. Above it, the residential extension exemption has to be claimed and granted before any material operation begins.

20 September 2026Read article →

First homes: the discount and how the obligation works

A First Home is discounted market sale housing with the discount locked in for every future sale. Here is how the caps, the obligation and the title restriction fit together.

20 September 2026Read article →

Affordable housing tenure split and how it is negotiated

The tenure split decides how much an affordable housing requirement actually costs. Here is where the mix comes from, how registered provider appetite changes it and how it is drafted.