A Community Infrastructure Levy (CIL) bill has been reversed in a landmark appeal after it was wrongly issued to a Berkshire developer months after planning permission was approved for the change of use of a commercial building into a residential building.
Incredibly, the CIL liability bill issued by West Berkshire Council to the local developer totalled over £40,000, but thanks to ET Planning, this CIL appeal is the first of its kind to be won against the council since CIL was introduced in April 2015. In response to the decision, the client, Mr Mills said “We have worked with Emily and her team at ET planning on a number of schemes so when this charge was levied against us they were the ideal support we needed. CIL regulations are a massive minefield and I am convinced that without the determination and knowledge of the team at ET Planning the outcome could have been very different. They never give up!”
ET Planning took on this appeal, noticing straight away that the council had failed to acknowledge a legally binding declaration on the formal CIL form which had been submitted by the developer’s architect along with the planning application. This declaration was made to show that the building had been in use within the three-year period preceding the submission of the application, and therefore no CIL charge would be due.
The council had also added an additional £2,500 surcharge to the bill because, in their opinion, the works on the development had commenced without proper notice.
ET Planning put forward the appeal case focusing on Regulation 114 of the CIL Regulations 2010 and the Valuations Office allowed the appeal, determining that the council had not discounted the floorspace of the existing ‘in use’ building from the liability charge – which was, in fact, the total value of the bill.
A further appeal against the additional surcharge of £2,500 has also been allowed by the Planning Inspectorate.
If you would like advice on CIL relating to your development, or would like support to raise an appeal, please contact ET Planning to find out more.