Examiner asks Exeter to reconsider residential CIL rate

Following examination hearings in February, the examiner said in a note (1-page / 34KB PDF) to the Council that it was inappropriate for the Council to have used affordable housing targets set out in a supplementary planning document (SPD) to support its proposed residential CIL rate of £80 per square metre.

The proposed rate should have been based on the 35% affordable housing requirement set out in the Council's Core Strategy rather than the £25% in the SPD, she said.

The examiner said she found it "difficult to accept" the Council's claim that the residential charge rate would have to be £0 if the affordable housing requirement was 35%.

"As delivery of the Core Strategy’s policies and proposals is dependent on infrastructure projects which require significant developer funding, £0 CIL could arguably put the overall development of the area at risk," she said.

The examiner said she would like to investigate the residential CIL charge further and asked the Council to provide more evidence on its residential valuations. "The scope for differential rates and the relationship between threshold land prices and CIL could usefully be re-visited," she said.

The Council has responded (1-page / 22KB PDF) to the examiner and said that it would respond to her requests. "It may take some weeks to assemble the necessary information but a further submission will be made as soon as is practicable," it said.