Viability, Obligations and Commercial – Page 6
Section 106, CIL, viability assessments, affordable housing thresholds and retail tests.
Viability, Obligations and Commercial articles – page 6
173 articlesCIL instalment policies and development cash flow
Without an instalment policy the levy is due in full 60 days after work starts. What the policies offer, how phasing helps, and the notices that protect the schedule.
Economic impact assessments and how councils use them
An economic impact assessment only carries weight where the figures are net. Additionality, displacement and leakage adjustments decide whether an officer can rely on the conclusion.
Town centre health checks and what they have to show
The impact test asks about effects on a centre's vitality and viability, so the health check is the measuring instrument. Indicators, dates and methodology decide how much weight its conclusion carries.
Build cost evidence in a viability appraisal
Reviewers adjust any cost they cannot trace to a source. Abnormals need a document produced for another purpose, and external works measured by site area rather than a round percentage.
Early-stage viability reviews and the implementation deadline
An early stage review is a penalty for sitting on a consent, not a check on whether the scheme worked. The definition of substantial implementation in the deed is far harder to meet than section 56.
Late-stage viability reviews and how they are drafted
A late stage review revisits viability once values and costs are known. Developers negotiate the percentage and ignore the machinery, and the machinery decides whether anyone pays.
The three tests for planning obligations under regulation 122
A planning obligation can only be a reason for granting permission if it passes all three regulation 122 tests. Most disputed contributions fail on evidence, not principle.
Deeds of variation on a section 73 permission
The original deed often binds only the permission named in it. Here is how to check, which instrument to use, who has to be a party and when it must complete.
Modifying a section 106 obligation after five years
After five years an owner can apply to modify or discharge a planning obligation without the council's agreement. The test is narrow, and viability is not part of it.
Social housing relief from the levy and its clawback
Mandatory relief for qualifying affordable dwellings cannot be refused, but it must be claimed before work starts and it is apportioned by floor area rather than by unit numbers.
CIL self-build exemption: the forms and the deadlines
Self-build relief from the Community Infrastructure Levy is lost on paperwork more often than on eligibility. Here is the sequence, the six-month evidence deadline and the clawback rules.
Employment land assessment: evidencing need for new units
Four propositions decide an employment land case: demand exists, existing stock cannot meet it, allocations cannot either, and this site can.
Estate regeneration viability and existing resident costs
A residual appraisal template does not carry decant, leaseholder buyback or statutory compensation. Those cost heads are what estate schemes turn on.
Phasing payments in a section 106 agreement
A contribution of the same size can be comfortable or fatal depending on when it falls due. Triggers, definitions, indexation and security in a section 106 agreement.
Economic impact assessment methods councils accept
A job number without a method carries no weight. Here is how to separate construction from operation, apply additionality adjustments and present figures that survive review.
Overage clauses and how they interact with planning
Overage hangs on a planning event, and the definition matters more than the percentage. Here is how triggers, section 73 consents, deductions and security work in practice.
How a CIL charging schedule is set and examined
A charging schedule examination asks one question: has the authority struck an appropriate balance between funding infrastructure and development viability. Here is how the process works and where rates can be challenged.
Open space and play space contributions: the arithmetic
Open space contributions are arithmetic. Standards, occupancy assumptions, child yield and maintenance periods each carry an assumption you can check, and on a medium scheme the checking is worth a five-figure sum.
Nutrient credits and what they do to a development appraisal
In an affected catchment, nutrient credits are a large, early, non-recoverable cost with no published price list. How the budget is calculated, where credits come from, how they are secured and what they do to cash flow.
The Infrastructure Levy powers and where they stand
The Levelling-up and Regeneration Act 2023 created powers for a value-based Infrastructure Levy in England, but the operative detail sits in regulations still to be made. CIL and section 106 remain the system to appraise against.
Viability at appeal: how inspectors handle rival appraisals
Viability appeals turn on auditable models and narrowed issues, not on the profit line. How to prepare evidence that an inspector can follow and test.
Section 278 works and how they land in an appraisal
Highway works under section 278 arrive as nine cost lines, not one. What to budget, when the money leaves, and why the bond is released long after completion.
Profit on cost or profit on value in an appraisal
The same profit reads as 20 per cent of value or 25 per cent of cost. How to pick a measure, justify the return by risk and present it so a council's adviser accepts it.
Retail impact assessment thresholds and local variations
Most plans set their own impact threshold, often far below the national default of 2,500 square metres. What triggers an assessment, what the two limbs measure, and how to scope the work.
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