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Malthouse: new rules mean developers will not ‘shirk responsibilities’ on infrastructure cash
Ministers are finally pushing ahead with new laws aimed at making it easier for councils to collect money from developers for local infrastructure.
More than a year after the launch of an initial consultation on an overhaul of the system, regulations have today been laid in parliament, aimed at making it simpler.
Under the reforms, councils are being promised that they will be able to introduce the Community Infrastructure Levy (CIL) more easily.
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The levy is designed to ensure that developers are required to pay for extra roads, schools, GP surgeries and parkland needed to cope with the extra residents brought in by their developments.
Among the changes suggested today, local authorities will also have “more flexibility to amend their charging schedules to take account of changes in viability and local housing market conditions”.
The legislation, which is still to be debated in parliament, also means that restrictions will be eased to allow councils to fund single, larger infrastructure projects from the cash received from multiple developments.
Councils have faced problems collecting the CIL. Last month Bournemouth, Christchurch and Poole Council said it was prepared to take developers to court if they did not pay the levy.
Housing minister Kit Malthouse said today: “The reforms not only ensure developers and councils don’t shirk their responsibilities, allowing residents to hold them to account, but also free up councillors to fund bigger and more complicated projects over the line.”
Mr Malthouse also claimed that the certainty will mean “quicker decisions” on planning, helping the government meet its target of building 300,000 homes annually by the mid-2020s.
A review of the CIL was launched by the government in February 2017.
