Select committee writes to Housing and Planning Minister about “unfair” charging of homeowners with Community Infrastructure Levy

In her letter to Matthew Pennycook, Eshalomi wrote: “In recent months, there have been several press reports of homeowners receiving unexpected CIL charges for small projects, even though CIL is intended as a levy for large-scale developers. These charges have seemingly been issued due to administrative or procedural errors, such as paperwork being completed incorrectly by applicants.”

She also cited information provided by the CIL Injustice Group, which represents 50 homeowners across 14 constituencies. This said that members had received “unfair” CIL charges ranging from £40,000 to £235,000 for extensions, annexes and self-build projects.

“These cases include homeowners who received letters which threatened imprisonment if they did not pay the charge,” Eshalomi said.

She added that whilst some local authorities had issued refunds, others had not.

Eshalomi noted that the minister had told the committee in July this year that the Government accepted that the CIL regulations were not intended to operate in this way, and that it was giving very serious consideration to amending them.

In the letter the HCLG committee chair asked the minister to answer the following questions:

• Is the Ministry still considering amending the Community Infrastructure Levy Regulations to stop unfair charges on homeowners?
  • If so, what is the timeline for secondary legislation to be laid and come into force?
• Is the Ministry considering amending its guidance to local authorities regarding the Community Infrastructure Levy, to stop unfair charges on homeowners?
  • If so, when will the updated guidance be published?
• Has the Ministry issued any formal or informal communications to local authorities regarding the application of CIL legislation, since these cases were first brought to the Ministry’s attention?
• Does the Ministry believe local authorities have discretion to issue CIL refunds to homeowners under current legislation, where CIL has been unfairly charged?
• Is the Ministry considering requiring all local authorities to review their householder CIL cases, with a view to refunding unfair CIL charges?

Florence Eshalomi said: “It’s alarming to hear that some homeowners have been hit by unfair charges under the Community Infrastructure Levy (CIL) Regulations. I hope the Housing Minister can provide reassurance about the Government’s approach to tackling these unintended consequences and update the Committee on what work it is undertaking with local councils to stop unfair CIL charges on homeowners.”