Out-Law News 2 min. read
03 Jul 2013, 3:37 pm
The three Central Lancashire councils have been working together throughout the CIL preparation and consultation processes, although they will adopt separate charging schedules.
The examiner said in his report that the £10 per square metre rates the councils had proposed to charge for apartment developments as well as the 'all other uses' category did not "reflect the evidence" submitted and would threaten the viability of those uses in the districts. He recommended that the councils modify those rates to £0 per sq m.
The examiner said the proposed rate was "wholly inconsistent" with the councils' viability assessment which had shown that, even with a nil rate levy applying to apartments, such uses would have a residual margin of only 15% on cost. "It is obvious that introducing the £10 rate would worsen an already untenable viability position, to a greater or lesser extent," he said.
He said that there was "no evidence to support that other uses could bear" the £10 rate and that he could see "no reason why they should". He noted that a "number of uses" had been subject to viability testing which had revealed that they would not be viable even without a levy charge.
The examiner recommended a modification of the delineation of the 'Inner Preston Zone', in which Preston City Council had proposed to charge a lower £35 per sq m residential rate than the £65 per sq m applying to residential developments elsewhere in the City.
He said that the lower rate was "not only reasonable, but in my view necessary to retain a satisfactory viability cushion". However, he agreed with the City Council's suggestion to alter the boundary of the zone, although the altered boundary would not "entirely mirror the viability evidence".
He noted that the City Council had said that any deviations from the boundary used for the viability evidence reflected "their local knowledge of the housing market and the way neighbourhoods involved are perceived by those who live there".
The examiner also recommended modifications suggested by the councils to the retail use definitions set out in the charging schedules. He said that amended definitions of convenience retail stores and neighbourhood convenience stores were necessary to "properly reflect the different functions of the two store types".
He also said that the suggested revision to the retail warehouse/parks definition is needed, "particularly as it clarifies that a store will be a convenience retail store if the net trading floor area dedicated to comparison goods is below 50%".
The examiner concluded that, subject to the modifications recommended by him, the three DCSs were approved.
"It is now the intention of each council to take reports to their full council meetings with the view to adopting the Charging Schedules during the course of this summer," the councils said in a joint statement.
