Poole considers residential CIL charges of up to £1,300 per square metre

The Dorset local authority began charging CIL in January 2013, at rates of between £75 per sq m and £150 per sq m for residential development.

According to a report (5-page / 167 KB PDF) of the Borough's head of planning and regeneration, produced last month, CIL rates are now being reassessed "to ensure that they are set at an appropriate level to make sure development is viable in different areas of the Borough".

The Borough has now proposed to split its administrative area in to eight separate charging zones for new residential development, with rates ranging from nil, at the site of a former power station, to £1,300 per sq m on the Sandbanks peninsula. The proposed Sandbanks charge would represent the highest CIL rate in the country to date, almost doubling the current highest charge of £750 per sq m for residential development in west London's Knightsbridge.

The Borough has also proposed to introduce charges for retirement and assisted living developments, student accommodation, hotels and retail developments: all of which are charged a nil rate under existing arrangements.

The report said the proposed new rates were informed by a viability assessment conducted on the Borough's behalf by development and infrastructure consultancy Peter Brett Associates.

"A reassessment of the CIL rates is fundamental in ensuring that infrastructure is deliverable while still allowing development to help meet the growth targets set out in the core strategy," concluded the report. "With the core strategy simultaneously going through a review process it is important for the new established targets of the spatial plan to be reflected in the [CIL] charging schedule."