The preliminary draft charging schedule proposes a CIL levy which would be set at a differential rate for various uses of development, which ranges from nil (for small retail, community and commercial uses) to £235 per square metre (for residential development in a rural location).
Mid Sussex's CIL proposals (12-page / 3.7MB PDF) include three different charging zones for residential development, which are Town Zones, Village zones and Rural zones. Residential development in the Town Zones of Burgess Hill, Haywards Heath and East Grinstead, would be charged at £150 per sq m.
The proposed CIL rate increases to £210 per sq m for development in the Village Zone, which covers settlements with a built-up area boundary defined in the Mid Sussex Proposals Map 2008, and rises again to £235 per sq m for residential development in rural locations, which covers the majority of the Council’s area.
“Mid Sussex District Council’s proposals provide an early and interesting benchmark for likely CIL charges in Sussex and Surrey,” said Marcus Bate, Planning law expert at Pinsent Masons, the law firm behind Out-Law.com. "With the notable exception of Elmbridge, other authorities in these counties have been cautious about publicly committing to implement CIL so far, whether for political reasons or simply for want of resources."
In addition to the different rates for residential development, dependent on location, Mid Sussex also proposes to set different CIL rates dependent on the type of the development.
A rate of £100 per sq m has been proposed for supermarkets and superstores, hotels, commercial leisure, and all other development not already mentioned.
The preliminary draft charging schedule proposes a nil rate for new retail development (excluding supermarkets and superstores), community use and office, industrial and distribution development.
The Council has adopted the different zones and rates on the basis that "differential rates should be set with reference to economic viability, not to the cost of specific infrastructure in any particular area", the CIL consultation document said.
“There are some positive indicators for developers, with the Council suggesting (but not guaranteeing) that it may allow CIL to be paid in instalments and make exceptional circumstances relief available for schemes where viability is under pressure," said Bate.
"But the overall charges are far from light – as much as £235 per square metre in rural areas – and many will feel that the proposed Charging Schedule is overly complicated through the use of multiple differential rates for land uses and geographical zones.”
The Council reserves as a discretionary matter the ability to offer "discretionary relief for exceptional circumstances". The relief can be activated or deactivated at the discretion of the Council and allows flexibility to deal with individual sites where development is desirable, but which are proved to be unviable.
The council has predicted that the revenue yielded could reach between £50 million and £80m for new homes, to fill part of an identified funding gap of approximately £105m.
The consultation on the preliminary draft charging schedule is open until 21 March 2012.
