Representatives from Haslams were invited to attend a series of workshops organised by Wokingham Borough Council to discuss the Council’s introduction of CIL (Community Infrastructure Levy) as a means by which the Council will in future fund the delivery of various infrastructure projects to support major residential and other development projects.
While CIL will not replace payments under section 106 agreements in their entirety, it is clear that CIL will in the future become a major cost element with most developments. As a result it will also in turn affect the value of any landowner’s interest.
There is considerable debate on what should be an appropriate CIL charge with Wokingham Borough Council currently targeting a figure of around £330 per square metre to be paid on the grant of planning permission. Many developers consider that figure to be an excessive as it is one of the highest proposed rates within the UK planning system.
Haslams’ Partner, Steven Smith, commented that “…while we welcome the Council’s desire to engage with the private sector development stakeholders such as ourselves in the debate, we remain very concerned that adopting an excessive CIL figure will have a damaging effect on viability and the ability of developers to deliver much needed new housing. All Councils need to focus on what is a sustainable figure while at the same time ensuring quite rightly that the new development will provide the quantity and quality of infrastructure required to serve the local community. Squaring that circle will not be easy”.
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Steven Smith
BSc (Est Man) FRICS FCI Arb FCABE