Finding and reading a CIL charging schedule
The published rate is never the rate you pay. Indexation, deductions for existing floorspace and the forms you file before starting all change the final demand.
A Community Infrastructure Levy charging schedule sets out what a charging authority charges per square metre of new floorspace, by use and often by geographical zone. It is published on the authority's own website, it has been through independent examination, and the rates printed in it are almost never the rates you will actually pay, because the levy is index linked to the year permission is granted.
Three documents matter: the adopted charging schedule, the current annual rate summary, and the instalment policy. Find all three before appraising a site.
Where the schedule lives and what it contains
The charging authority is the district, borough or unitary council. In London the Mayor charges a separate levy alongside the borough charge, and both apply. National park authorities and development corporations can also be charging authorities in their areas.
A charging schedule is a short document. It states the rates in pounds per square metre of gross internal area, identifies the development types each rate applies to, sets out any zones with a map, and gives the date the schedule took effect and the price base year for indexation.
Alongside it the authority should publish an annual rate summary showing the indexed rates for the current year, an instalment policy if it has one, its relief policies, and its list of the infrastructure it intends to fund. If any of those is missing from the website, ask for it in writing before you rely on a figure.
Zones, uses and the rate per square metre
Rates vary by use because viability varies by use. A typical schedule charges residential development at one rate, retail at another, and applies a nil rate to most other commercial floorspace, since charging it would make schemes unviable.
Zoning reflects value. An authority with a high value rural south and a lower value urban north will often set two or three residential zones with different rates, mapped precisely. Check which zone your site falls in by looking at the map rather than by reading the place names, because zone boundaries follow ward or parish lines that do not always match how people describe an area.
Read the definitions carefully. Whether a retirement scheme, student accommodation, a house in multiple occupation or a holiday let falls within the residential rate or a separate category is decided by the schedule's own wording, and those categories differ between authorities more than any other part of the document.
Indexation and why the published rate is not the rate
The levy is indexed from the price base of the schedule to the year in which planning permission first permits development, using the index specified in the regulations.
For a schedule adopted several years ago, the difference is material. An appraisal built on the printed rate will understate the liability, sometimes by a substantial margin on a large scheme.
Use the authority's published annual rate summary, note the date you took it from, and re-check it before exchange if the transaction runs into a new calendar year. Where the appraisal is tight, the indexation movement between one January and the next is exactly the kind of variable that a Viability Assessment should test rather than assume.
Working out whether a scheme is chargeable at all
Not every development pays. The general rule is that liability arises where the development involves new build of 100 square metres or more of gross internal area, or where it creates one or more dwellings of any size.
Existing floorspace can be deducted where the building has been in lawful use for a qualifying continuous period within the three years before permission first permits development. That deduction is frequently worth more than any relief, and it turns on evidence: rates records, tenancy agreements, utility bills, photographs. Assemble that evidence before the application rather than after the liability notice arrives.
Reliefs and exemptions form the second layer.
- Self-build exemption for a dwelling built or commissioned by the occupier, subject to a clawback if the property is sold or ceases to be the principal residence within three years
- Exemption for residential extensions and for residential annexes
- Social housing relief, which interacts with the affordable provision set out in the Affordable Housing Statement
- Charitable relief where the development will be used for charitable purposes
- Exceptional circumstances relief, which only exists where the authority has resolved to offer it
Every relief has its own form, its own timing and its own conditions. None of them is applied automatically.
The forms, and the order they go in
This is where money is lost, and the sequence is unforgiving.
- Submit the additional information form with the planning application so the authority can calculate liability.
- Serve an assumption of liability notice, naming who will pay, before development starts.
- Apply for any relief or exemption and wait for it to be granted in writing.
- Serve a commencement notice before any material operation takes place on site.
- Pay in accordance with the demand notice, by instalments where the policy allows.
Step four catches people every year. Beginning work without a valid commencement notice can remove the right to instalments, trigger a surcharge, and cause a granted relief to be lost so that the full sum becomes payable immediately. There is limited scope for the authority to forgive it, and site clearance or a service trench can count as the start of development.
An illustrative example. A self-builder obtained the exemption, then let a groundworker dig foundation trenches while the commencement notice sat unsent in a drafts folder. The exemption fell away. The lesson is procedural rather than technical, and it costs more than any professional fee on the project.
Instalments and payment windows
Where the authority has published an instalment policy, payment is staged according to its terms, usually by reference to the size of the liability and with the first payment due a stated number of days after the start of development.
Where there is no instalment policy, the whole amount is payable within 60 days of the start of development. On a scheme of any scale that is a cash flow event that has to be financed, and it arrives at the point when spending is at its highest and receipts have not started.
Check whether the policy survives a transfer of liability, and whether late payment removes the instalment right for the remaining stages. Most policies say that it does.
When the schedule is under review
Authorities review charging schedules periodically, and a review usually follows a viability study that will be published as part of the evidence base.
The existing schedule applies until the new one takes effect on the stated date. Draft rates have no legal effect, though they are a reliable signal of direction. Where rates are going up, the timing of the permission matters, because the calculation uses the rates in force when permission first permits development.
The levy also sits alongside a wider reform. The Levelling-up and Regeneration Act 2023 contains powers for an Infrastructure Levy intended to replace the current system, and as at the date of writing those powers have not been brought into general force. Treat announcements about it as forthcoming rather than current, and check the position at the time you are appraising.
For a view of the supporting documents a chargeable scheme tends to need, browse all 66 report types, and see PlanScope pricing if you want to know what drafting them on the platform costs.
This is general guidance, not legal advice; check the position with your local planning authority or a qualified professional before relying on it. Levy rates, indexation and relief rules change, so take the current figures from the charging authority's published schedule and rate summary.
To see which reports a site is likely to need before you budget for it, start with a postcode.
PlanScope provides AI-assisted draft reports for planning applications. Reports should be reviewed before submission. We do not guarantee planning approval.
Frequently asked questions
Where do I find a council's charging schedule?
On the charging authority's own website, usually under planning policy or a section named for the levy, alongside the annual rate summary and any instalment policy. The charging authority is the district, borough or unitary council, and in London the Mayor also charges a separate levy that applies on top of the borough rate.
Why is the rate I pay higher than the published rate?
Because the levy is index linked. Rates in an adopted schedule are expressed at the price level of the year the schedule was adopted, and the calculation applies an index to bring them to the year permission is granted. Authorities publish an annual rate summary showing the indexed figures, which is the document to work from.
Does every development pay the levy?
No. Liability generally arises where new build adds 100 square metres or more of gross internal area, or where one or more dwellings are created regardless of size. Floorspace in an existing building that has been in lawful use for a qualifying period can be deducted, and some uses are charged at a nil rate in the schedule.
What happens if I forget the commencement notice?
The consequences are severe and not discretionary. Starting work without serving a commencement notice can mean losing the right to pay by instalments, triggering a surcharge, and in the case of self-build and other reliefs, losing the relief entirely so that the full amount becomes payable. File it before anything happens on site.
What if the charging schedule is being reviewed?
The existing schedule applies until a new one takes effect on the date the authority states. Draft rates carry no legal force, though they signal what is coming. Where a review is under way and rates are rising, the timing of the permission matters, because liability is calculated by reference to the rates in force when permission first permits development.
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.