Challenging a levy demand: reviews and appeals
The chargeable amount is fixed by the liability notice and the clock runs from its date. Starting work on site closes the appeal routes that matter most.
If you want to appeal a CIL demand notice, the first thing to understand is that the demand notice is usually not the document to challenge. The chargeable amount is fixed by the liability notice, and the routes for disputing it are keyed to that notice and to deadlines measured in days. By the time a demand notice arrives, several of those routes have closed. One more closes the moment development starts on site.
The Community Infrastructure Levy Regulations 2010, as amended, set out a ladder of review and appeal routes, each going to a different body with its own time limit. Picking the wrong one wastes the deadline you had.
Check the liability notice before anything else
Read the liability notice against the charging schedule and your own figures. Five things go wrong often enough to check every time:
- the chargeable floorspace, measured as gross internal area, including or wrongly excluding mezzanines, plant rooms and covered areas
- the deduction for an existing building, which requires a part of it to have 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 development
- the rate applied, where a site straddles two charging zones or includes more than one use
- the indexation figure, which uses the published index for the year in which the charging schedule took effect and the year the permission was granted
- whether a relief or exemption you claimed has been applied at all
Arithmetic errors are common and they are usually resolved by a phone call to the CIL officer followed by a revised liability notice. Do that first. The formal routes exist for real disagreements, not for transcription mistakes.
Requesting a review of the chargeable amount
The first formal step is a request to the collecting authority to review the chargeable amount. It has to be made within 28 days of the date of the liability notice, in writing, setting out why the calculation is wrong.
The authority then reviews the figure and notifies you of the outcome. The review is carried out by someone other than the person who made the original calculation.
Two points of practice. Make the request even if you expect it to fail, because the appeal to the valuation office is only available after a review has been requested. And put the whole of your case in the review request, with the measurements and the evidence, because it forms the basis of what follows.
Appealing the chargeable amount to the valuation office
If the review does not resolve it, the appeal on the chargeable amount goes to the Valuation Office Agency, which appoints a person to determine it. The time limit is 60 days from the date of the liability notice, which runs in parallel with the review rather than starting afresh after it. Diary both dates on the day the liability notice arrives.
The appeal is decided on the papers in most cases. What wins it is measurement evidence and documentary proof:
- A measured survey of the existing and proposed floorspace, prepared to the recognised measurement basis, with the areas scheduled room by room.
- Evidence of lawful use of the existing building for the qualifying period: business rates records, tenancy agreements, utility bills, photographs with dates, trading records.
- The planning permission, the approved drawings and any section 73 history.
- The charging schedule extract and the index figures relied on.
Related appeal routes go to the same body: apportionment of liability between landowners, charitable relief, and the exemptions for residential annexes, residential extensions and self-build housing.
The hard rule to remember is that these appeals cannot be made once development has started. Starting work is the single most effective way to lose an argument about the chargeable amount, and it is a mistake made most often by self-builders keen to get going.
Surcharges, deemed liability and the inspectorate route
Surcharges are a different family and they go to the Planning Inspectorate rather than the valuation office. The common ones are for failing to assume liability, for failing to submit a commencement notice before starting work, for failing to notify a disqualifying event, and for late payment.
Appeals against surcharges have to be made within 28 days of the surcharge being imposed, and the grounds are narrow: that the alleged breach did not occur, or that the authority failed to follow the procedure. An appeal that argues the surcharge is unfair will fail. An appeal that shows a commencement notice was served, with proof of service, will succeed.
Deemed commencement is the other inspectorate route. Where the authority determines that development started on a particular date and you disagree, the appeal is against that determination, again within 28 days. Evidence is site photographs with metadata, contractor records, delivery notes and building control inspection records.
| Dispute | Decided by | Time limit |
|---|---|---|
| Chargeable amount, review stage | Collecting authority | 28 days from the liability notice |
| Chargeable amount, appeal | Valuation Office Agency | 60 days from the liability notice |
| Apportionment of liability | Valuation Office Agency | 28 days from the demand notice |
| Charitable and residential reliefs | Valuation Office Agency | 28 days from the relief decision |
| Surcharges | Planning Inspectorate | 28 days from imposition |
| Deemed commencement date | Planning Inspectorate | 28 days from the determination |
| Stop notice | Planning Inspectorate | 28 days from the notice |
Check the current regulations for the exact wording and the exact day count applicable to your notice, because the regulations have been amended repeatedly and the figures above are a working summary rather than a substitute for the text.
The self-build exemption, and the ways it is lost
Self-builders lose the exemption on procedure far more often than on substance. The sequence is unforgiving: claim the exemption on the correct form and receive the authority's acknowledgement, then serve a commencement notice before any work begins, then submit the second part of the exemption evidence within the period the regulations allow after completion.
Miss the commencement notice and the exemption falls away and a surcharge is added. Miss the post-completion evidence and the exemption is withdrawn. Sell the house or let it within the clawback period and the levy becomes payable.
None of that is appealable on fairness grounds. The appeal routes test whether the procedure was followed, not whether the outcome is harsh. Where the levy bears on whether a scheme works at all, it belongs in the Viability Assessment alongside the other obligations, and the format in which a viability appraisal is submitted should show the levy as a separate line with the index and the deduction shown.
Judicial review as a last resort
Where the complaint is that the authority acted unlawfully, rather than that it got a figure wrong, judicial review in the Administrative Court is the route. It is for errors of law, procedural unfairness and decisions outside the authority's powers, and it has a short limitation period, so take advice immediately rather than after exhausting the statutory routes.
It is expensive, and the statutory routes are designed to deal with almost everything. Treat judicial review as the answer to a question about legality, not about measurement.
Illustrative example
A liability notice on a replacement dwelling shows no deduction for the demolished house. The owner telephones the CIL officer, who explains the records showed the house as empty for council tax purposes. The owner requests a review within 28 days, attaching council tax bills, a tenancy agreement and utility statements showing occupation until four months before the permission was issued. The authority accepts the building was an in-use building and issues a revised liability notice with the deduction applied. No appeal to the valuation office is needed. This example is illustrative and is not based on a real case.
What to do in the first week
Diary the 28 day and 60 day dates from the liability notice. Measure the floorspace yourself and compare it with the authority's figure. Gather the occupation evidence for any existing building. Request the review in writing. And do not let anyone onto the site until the chargeable amount is settled, because starting work closes the appeal routes that matter most.
One honest uncertainty: collecting authorities differ in how readily they accept occupation evidence for the in-use building deduction, and there is no standard evidential threshold. Supply more than you think necessary, and supply it at the review stage rather than holding it back.
Where the levy, obligations and highway costs interact, the appraisal is the place to resolve them. See PlanScope pricing for the tiers that allow editing and versioning of a draft appraisal narrative, and consider an independent review of a viability appraisal before submission.
This is general guidance, not legal advice. Check the position with your collecting authority or a qualified professional before relying on it, and take legal advice on any limitation period. PlanScope provides AI-assisted draft reports for planning applications. Reports should be reviewed before submission. We do not guarantee planning approval.
Frequently asked questions
Which notice do I challenge, the liability notice or the demand notice?
The liability notice. It fixes the chargeable amount, and the review and appeal deadlines run from its date. By the time a demand notice arrives, several routes have closed. Diary the 28 day and 60 day dates on the day the liability notice arrives rather than waiting for a demand.
Do I have to request a review before appealing?
Yes for the chargeable amount. The appeal to the Valuation Office Agency is available only after a review has been requested from the collecting authority. Make the request within 28 days of the liability notice, in writing, and put your full case and evidence in it because it forms the basis of what follows.
Can I appeal after starting construction?
No. Appeals on the chargeable amount and the related relief and apportionment routes cannot be made once development has started. This is the most expensive mistake self-builders make, because the urge to get going on site removes the only mechanism for correcting an overstated charge.
Where do surcharge appeals go?
To the Planning Inspectorate, within 28 days of the surcharge being imposed, and the grounds are narrow: that the breach did not occur, or that the authority failed to follow the correct procedure. An appeal arguing that a surcharge is unfair will fail. An appeal proving a commencement notice was served will succeed.
How do I prove an existing building was in use?
With documents rather than assertion: council tax or business rates records, tenancy agreements, utility statements, dated photographs and trading records. The test is that a part of the building was in lawful use for a continuous period of at least six months within the three years ending when planning permission first permits development.
Is judicial review worth considering?
Only where the complaint is that the authority acted unlawfully rather than that it got a figure wrong. It covers errors of law, procedural unfairness and decisions outside the authority's powers, and the limitation period is short. The statutory review and appeal routes deal with almost every measurement or relief dispute.
Sources and further reading
This article is general guidance about the planning system in England and, where stated, the rest of the UK. It is not legal or professional advice. Check your local planning authority’s validation requirements and take professional advice for your specific site.