Planning application process and appeals

The London Borough of Havering adopted its Community Infrastructure Levy (CIL) in July 2019 and is effective from 1 September 2019.

The levy applies to CIL liable developments granted planning permission on or after 1 September 2019.

The Mayoral CIL will also apply.

The Community Infrastructure Levy (CIL)

As from 1 September 2019 the Council will charge a local Community Infrastructure Levy (CIL) on all applicable development located in Havering.

Payments under the Havering CIL will be additional to the CIL payable to the Mayor of London (see  below).

The Community Infrastructure Levy (CIL) allows local authorities in England and Wales to help fund infrastructure by imposing a financial charge on new developments in their area where these are liable for CIL. 

The money generated through CIL can be used to support growth by helping to pay for a wide range of infrastructure needed to support and enable growth including parks, schools, community facilities, health facilities and leisure centres.

Section 106 agreements (also known as planning contributions or planning obligations) will remain in place alongside CIL but will be limited to: site specific financial contributions required to mitigate the impact of development.

Non-financial obligations such as affordable housing and other restrictions over the use of the land 

The Mayor of London also levies a CIL to help pay for Crossrail.

The Mayor of London started charging a CIL for decisions made on planning applications from 1 April 2012. The Council collects the Mayor of London’s CIL on the Mayor’s behalf.

When to pay the CIL

The Havering and London Mayoral CIL rates will be applicable to development which:

• consists of buildings to which people usually go; it does not apply to buildings to which people only go to on an occasional basis e.g. to inspect plant, or development that does not consist of buildings;
• the net additional increase in floorspace (gross internal area) of most developments (with some exceptions) is at least 100 sqm or it involves creating one or more dwellings, even where this is below 100 sqm;
• the conversion of a building that is no longer in lawful use; and
• the use is identified in Havering’s and or the London Mayor CIL charging schedule as incurring a charge

All applications made for planning permission must be accompanied by Form 0: CIL questions and Forms 1: Assumption of liability otherwise they will not be considered valid.

However, in line with the CIL Regulations, developments will not normally be liable for CIL if: 

• it is development of less than 100 square metres – unless this is a whole dwelling, in which case the levy is payable
• it involves only change of use, conversion or subdivision of, or creation of mezzanine floors within, a building which has been in lawful use for at least six months in the 36 months (3 years) prior to the development being permitted and does not create any new build floorspace
• it is for a building into which people do not normally go, or go only intermittently for the purpose of inspecting or maintaining fixed plant or machinery
• it is for a structure which is not a building, such as pylons or wind turbines
• it is permitted by a ‘general consent’ (including permitted development) that commenced before 6 April 2013
• it is for and occupied by a charity for charitable purposes and a claim for charitable relief is made and accepted before development commences
• it is for social housing and a claim for social housing relief is made and accepted before development commences
• it is for houses, flats, residential annexes and residential extensions which are built by ‘self- builders’ and a claim for relief is made and accepted before development commences
• it is a building for which planning permission was granted for a limited period
• it is a vacant building brought back into the same use, in certain circumstances (see Regulation 40 of the CIL Regulations)
• the levy liability is calculated to be less than £50, the chargeable amount is deemed to be zero so no levy is due

Mezzanine floors, inserted into an existing building, are not liable for the levy unless they form part of a wider planning permission that seeks to provide other works as well.

The CIL levy is calculated according to the amount of additional internal floorspace a new development will include. The CIL rates for Havering are set out as a financial contribution per square metre.

Cost of the CIL

The Mayoral CIL is charged at £25/sqm across Havering. Havering collects Mayoral CIL on behalf of the Mayor of London and is required to forward the monies collected to the Mayor.

The introduction of the Havering CIL does not affect the collection of Mayoral CIL and this will continue alongside the introduction of Havering’s CIL.

The Havering CIL is additional to the London Mayoral CIL and developers should recognise that they may be liable for both Mayoral and Havering CIL.

CIL monies collected for the Havering CIL will be retained by the Council to support infrastructure provision in the borough. 

The CIL payments will be differentiated according to use and geography and will be allocated in regard to Council priorities which will change over time .  

A table of the different rates and the map illustrating the geographical split of the charges are contained in Section 2 of the Havering CIL charging schedule.

Annual CIL Rate Summary 2022

Authority: London Borough of Havering

The rates shown in this CIL Rate Summary apply to all development granted between 1 January 2022 and 31 December 2022.

London Borough of Havering’s CIL Charging Schedule took effect on 1 September 2019.

* Including private care homes and retirement homes (excluding Extra Care)

** Supermarkets / superstores are defined as shopping destinations in their own right, where weekly food needs are met, catering for a significant proportion of car-borne customers, and which also include non-food floorspace as part of the overall mix of the unit.

*** Retail Warehousing is defined as shopping destinations specialising in the sale of household goods (such as carpets, furniture and electrical goods), DIY items and other ranges of goods, catering for a significant proportion of car-borne customers.

As the ‘charging authority’ which is responsible for collecting monies for the Havering CIL, the Council will charge differential CIL rates for two geographical zones to reflect locational differences in viability.

The map in Section 3 of the CIL Charging Schedule shows the boundary and location of the north and the south charging zones.

The zones are separated by the A1306 highway.

This geographical differential rate will only apply to residential and private care/retirement housing developments in Havering. CIL rates for other forms of development apply borough-wide.

The CIL Charging Schedule sets out how the Havering CIL will be implemented including the arrangements that the Council has put in place for CIL to be paid by instalments (in appropriate circumstances), how the Council may accept land or infrastructure as a payment ‘in kind’ in lieu of CIL monies and the exceptions policy which allows the Council to consider negotiating a s106 with developers instead of the CIL Payment in exceptional circumstances.

Calculating the chargeable amount

CIL will be calculated as set out in the Regulation 40 of the CIL Regulations 2010 (as amended).

On chargeable development, CIL is charged on net additional floor space (Gross Internal Area measured in square metres), subject to the relevant exemptions outlined above.

The rates shown in the CIL rates table will be reviewed regularly and updated as necessary for inflation in accordance with the national All-In Tender Price Index of construction costs published by the Building Cost Information Service (BCIS) of the Royal Institution of Chartered Surveyors.

The Council will also publish information on how it spends CIL monies by means of an Infrastructure Funding Statement which will be prepared on an annual basis from 2020 onwards.

Additional information needed when making a planning application

When submitting a planning application for a CIL liable development applicants should submit a CIL questions form, to ensure that their CIL liability is calculated accurately.

The planning applicant is responsible for payment of the CIL, unless another party completes a CIL ‘Form 1: Assumption of Liability’.

These forms are available to download at the bottom of this page, or from the Planning Portal CIL forms page.

When to pay

The levy charge becomes due when the development is commenced. A commencement notice must be issued to the Council as the collecting authority (see form below: ‘commencement notice’) and all owners of the relevant land to notify them of the intended commencement date of the development.

The Council will then send a demand notice to the person or persons who have assumed liability.

More information is available about CIL on the Planning Portal.

If you do not assume liability before the commencement of development it may result in the Council (as the CIL collecting authority) imposing a surcharge of £50 per landowner (Regulation 80 of the CIL Regulations 2010 and as amended).

If you do not submit a valid commencement notice before development commences it may result in the Council (as the CIL collecting authority) imposing a surcharge of 20 percent of the CIL amount due, up to a maximum of £2,500.

Instalments policy for payment of CIL monies

Havering’s instalment policy for the payment of CIL monies is in line with the Mayor of London’s instalment policy. It is set out in Section 7 of the Havering Charging Schedule.

From 1 January 2018, a new Mayoral instalments policy was implemented, which lowered the threshold from which instalments can be applied from £500,000 to £100,000. The Mayoral CIL instalments policy is set out below.

Exemptions

Section 4 of the Havering CIL Charging Schedule indicates that the following types of uses are zero rated as far as payment of CIL is concerned:

• health and education uses are both zero-rated by the Mayor and the Council
• other zero rated uses for Havering are detailed in the Havering charging schedule 

The following types of development can claim an exemption from the payment of CIL:

• social housing provided by a local housing authority, registered social landlord or registered provider of social housing and shared ownership housing subject to the specific provisions of Regulation 49
• charities where the development will be used wholly, or mainly, for charitable purposes
• houses, flats, residential annexes and residential extensions which are built by ‘self builders’

A claim for relief must be made and accepted before development commences.

In any of these situations applicants must complete a claiming exemption or relief form and a decision must be made by the collecting authority before development commences.

Find out more about CIL reliefs and exemptions.

Information notice compliance

Failure to comply with the any requirement of an information notice within 14 days of the notice being served, may result in the Council (as the CIL collecting authority) imposing a surcharge. This would be of 20 percent of the CIL amount due, up to a maximum of £2,500.

Failure to pay

Late payment interest

If you do not pay CIL on time it will result in the imposition of late payment interest at 2.5 percentage points above the Bank of England base rate.
Late payment surcharge

Continued failure to pay CIL may result in one or more late payment surcharge. Such surcharges will be imposed in the following manner:

• 5 percent of the outstanding amount where payment is still overdue after 30 days, subject to a £200 minimum
• 5 percent of the outstanding amount where payment is still overdue after six months, subject to a £200 minimum
• 5 percent of the outstanding amount where payment is still overdue after 12 months, subject to a £200 minimum

Stop notices and criminal offences

In cases where interest and late payment surcharges are considered to be ineffective in securing payment of the overdue CIL, the Council has the option to serve a CIL stop notice on the development.

A CIL stop notice prohibits development from continuing until payment is made. Continuing to develop in the presence of such a notice is a criminal offence, punishable by potentially unlimited fines.

When you fail to pay CIL the Council (as the collecting authority) may seek a court’s consent to seize and sell your assets to recover the money due. These assets may include any land you hold.

If you continue to evade paying CIL, the Council can ask a magistrates’ court to commit you to prison for no more than three months.

Appeals

Appeals can be made against all aspects of the CIL collection and enforcement system, from the calculation of the amount due to any enforcement actions that may arise from failure to pay. 

There are two exceptions where an appeal system does not exist which are social housing relief and exceptional circumstances relief.

More information on how to appeal and the circumstances in which you can and cannot appeal can be found on the Planning Portal website.

Forms and downloads

The forms mentioned above are available on the Planning Portal website. Please note these forms should be used for Havering CIL and Mayoral CIL.

Go to the forms list on the Planning portal website