Levy liability notices, notices to start and surcharges
The Community Infrastructure Levy runs on a fixed sequence of notices. Assuming liability and serving the commencement notice both happen before a spade goes in, and self-build exemptions depend on it.
A CIL liability notice is not a bill, and the notice that matters most to a self-builder is the one you serve rather than the one you receive. The Community Infrastructure Levy Regulations 2010 set a sequence: the collecting authority issues a liability notice after permission is granted, somebody assumes liability in writing, the person carrying out the work serves a commencement notice before a spade goes in, and only then does a demand notice arrive with dates on it. Miss a step and the Regulations impose surcharges, and on an exempt self-build the consequences can run further than a surcharge.
The order is the point. Every expensive mistake in this area comes from doing something out of sequence rather than from not paying.
The sequence of notices from permission to payment
- Permission is granted. The collecting authority, normally your district or unitary council, issues a liability notice stating the chargeable amount and the land it attaches to.
- Someone assumes liability by submitting the prescribed form. Until then liability sits with the landowner by default.
- If you are claiming an exemption or relief, the claim goes in and is determined before work starts.
- A commencement notice is served on the collecting authority before the development starts.
- The authority issues a demand notice setting out the amount and the payment dates.
- Payment is made, in full or by instalments where the authority has published an instalment policy.
Steps two, three and four all sit before any work on site. That is the part householders and self-builders get wrong, usually because groundworks begin while a conversation about the levy is still open with the council.
Assuming liability and why it must be done first
Assumption of liability is a short form, and submitting it transfers the levy liability from the landowner to whoever submits it. On a self-build that is normally the same person, which makes the form look like a formality. It is not.
Two consequences follow from skipping it. The authority applies a surcharge for failure to assume liability before development starts. And any exemption claim depends on a valid assumption being in place, because the relief attaches to the person who holds the liability. A self-build exemption claimed by someone who never assumed liability is vulnerable from the outset.
Liability can be transferred later, and it can be withdrawn, but neither works retrospectively past the start of development. Do it when the liability notice lands, not when the contractor is booked.
The notice served before work starts
The commencement notice tells the collecting authority the date development will begin. It must be served before that date, and the Regulations treat the date you state as the date from which payment periods run.
What counts as the start of development is wider than most self-builders assume. It follows the material operations test in section 56 of the Town and Country Planning Act 1990, which includes digging foundation trenches, laying out a road, and demolition in some circumstances. Setting up a site compound and clearing vegetation are the grey areas. Fencing and a site cabin are usually fine. A digger cutting a trench for a service run is not.
Where no commencement notice is served, the authority can determine a deemed start date itself, and it will usually choose the earliest date it has evidence for, which is rarely the date that suits you. There is an appeal against a deemed date.
The rules on what a late or missing commencement notice costs an exempt self-builder have been amended since the Regulations were first made. Read the current consolidated text, and get the collecting authority's position in writing before you start work, because the difference between a surcharge and a lost exemption on a single plot is the difference between an irritation and a five-figure problem.
Surcharges for failing to notify
Part 9 of the Regulations sets out the surcharges. They fall into four groups, and the amounts and caps are stated in the Regulations themselves rather than fixed by the council, so check the current text instead of accepting a figure over the phone.
| Failure | How the surcharge is set |
|---|---|
| Not assuming liability before development starts | A fixed sum per liable person |
| Not serving a commencement notice | A percentage of the chargeable amount, subject to a cap |
| Not responding to an information notice | A fixed sum |
| Late payment | Percentages of the outstanding amount, applied again at stated intervals |
Late payment surcharges stack over time, and interest runs alongside them. Collecting authorities also hold enforcement powers that bite harder than money: a stop notice can halt development until the outstanding levy is paid, and the levy is recoverable as a land charge.
Instalment policies and how they vary
A collecting authority may publish an instalment policy, and many do. Where one exists, it sets the number of payments, the trigger dates and often a minimum chargeable amount below which instalments are not available. Where none exists, the Regulations require payment in a single sum a set number of days after development starts.
That variation is worth checking before you fix the build programme and the finance drawdown. Two authorities either side of a county boundary can offer very different cash profiles on the same chargeable amount, and an instalment policy can be withdrawn or replaced, with the policy in force on the day permission is granted being the one that applies.
Self-builders claiming exemption do not reach this stage at all, provided the exemption holds. That is the better reason to get the paperwork right than any surcharge.
Appeals against calculation and surcharge
Three different routes handle three different complaints, and using the wrong one wastes the deadline.
Where you think the chargeable amount has been calculated wrongly, ask the collecting authority to review it first. Floor area measurement, the treatment of existing floorspace to be demolished, and the indexation figure applied are the usual grounds. If the review does not resolve it, the chargeable amount is then appealable to the Valuation Office Agency, which also handles disputes about how liability is apportioned between landowners.
Surcharges, deemed start dates and refused relief go to an appointed person through the Planning Inspectorate rather than to the Valuation Office Agency. Deadlines here are short, measured in days from the notice, and they are not generous about late submissions. Lodge the appeal and argue the merits afterwards.
The one argument that almost never works is that nobody told you. Liability notices are issued to the owner and to the applicant, and the obligation to serve a commencement notice sits in the Regulations rather than in anything the council has to remind you about.
Records to keep for the file
Keep the liability notice, the assumption of liability with the date it was submitted, the exemption claim and the authority's decision on it, the commencement notice with evidence of the date it was sent, every demand notice, and the payment receipts. For a self-build exemption, keep the completion evidence too, because the second part of the claim has to go in within six months of completion and the dwelling has to remain your main residence for three years.
Scan everything and email it to yourself. Proof that a notice was sent on a particular date is the whole ball game in a surcharge appeal, and a posted form with no record of posting is worth nothing.
That record also matters on resale. A buyer's solicitor will raise the levy, and an unpaid amount is recoverable against the land rather than against you personally. Where a scheme involves obligations as well as the levy, keep them in the same file, because questions about whether section 106 obligations carry over to a section 73 permission and about which instrument secures what tend to arrive together. Our note on which agreement secures what sets out the difference.
This is general guidance, not legal advice. Check the position with your local planning authority or a qualified professional before relying on it. If you are assembling the application pack behind all this, you can see which documents a project is likely to need across all 66 report types and start a draft on PlanScope.
PlanScope provides AI-assisted draft reports for planning applications. Reports should be reviewed before submission. We do not guarantee planning approval.
Frequently asked questions
What happens if I start work before serving a commencement notice?
The collecting authority can set a deemed start date from whatever evidence it has, which is usually earlier than you would choose, and it will apply a surcharge. For exempt self-build plots the consequences have been amended since the Regulations were made, so read the current consolidated text and get the authority's position in writing first.
Who is liable for CIL if nobody assumes liability?
Liability defaults to the owners of the land, apportioned between them by land interest. That is why the assumption of liability form matters even when the builder and the owner are the same person: an exemption attaches to whoever holds the liability, so a self-build claim made without a valid assumption in place is exposed from the start.
What counts as starting development for levy purposes?
The material operations test in section 56 of the Town and Country Planning Act 1990 applies, which covers digging foundation trenches, laying out a road and, in some circumstances, demolition. Site fencing and a cabin are usually outside it. A trench for a service connection is not, so confirm the position before groundworks.
Can I pay the levy in instalments?
Only where the collecting authority has published an instalment policy, which sets the number of payments and the trigger dates and often a minimum amount. Without a policy, the Regulations require payment in a single sum a set number of days after development starts. Check the policy in force when permission is granted.
Where do I appeal a surcharge?
Surcharges, deemed start dates and refused relief go to an appointed person through the Planning Inspectorate. Disputes about the chargeable amount go first to the collecting authority for review and then to the Valuation Office Agency, which also deals with apportionment. Deadlines are short, so lodge first and argue afterwards.
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.