Community Infrastructure Levy No 5 - Exemptions and Reliefs from CIL

At present there are few exemptions and reliefs from CIL in the Planning Act 2008 (as amended). They include the following:

• social housing;
• charity exemption;
• charity relief;
• the 10 percent relief
• relief through CIL rates.

Social housing;
There is no charge of CIL on any development intended for social housing. Thus, a housing association will be exempt and also a private sector developer who builds some social housing as part of the project.

However, if the private developer, for instance, should later switch some or all of the social portion for private housing the charging authority may clawback the amount of relief from CIL which should have been paid.

Charity exemption;
Explicit exemption from CIL is given to a charity which builds a projevct which will be used for charitable purposes.

Charity relief
The charging authority has power to forego CIL on a charity's non-caharitable project where the proceeds of the project are later used for charitable purposes. (The charging authority must have a written policy on the application of this relief.)

Rebuilding upto 110 percent relief.
If a person rebuilds a building there will be no charge to CIL provided the extent of the rebuild is not more than 110 percent of the original building.


Discretionary Relief through CIL Rates
To the extent that the charging authority has adopted variable rates of CIL in its charging schedule according to the type of building, a relief could be said to be applied  to buildings charged at the lower rates.


Discretionary reliefs for Type of Development
A charging authority may apply an exeption to certain types of building, eg Shropshire County Council does not charge CIL on employment-related buildings.

Viability relief
Where the imposition of CIL would cause the project to be unviable so that the developer would not wish to proceed with the project, the charging authority may consider a request that CIL relief be given. Each case must be exceptional and an independent evaluation of the project must be conducted.