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Government launches consultation on developer contributions
Ministers have published a technical consultation updating rules on developer infrastructure contributions.
The proposed changes would introduce an exemption for starter homes – homes for sale to buyers on limited incomes – from the Community Infrastructure Levy (CIL), which was announced in March 2015 by then-housing minister Brandon Lewis.
New regulations on “the broader aspects of the starter homes policy” will also be published soon. With the government revealing “there will be no mandatory requirement for local authorities to deliver starter homes”.
Through CIL, developers are required to make financial contributions to pay for new infrastructure such as roads and schools to support new homes.
Developers also make contributions through Section 106 planning agreements with councils – particularly by providing affordable housing.
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The government said the new regulations would help speed up housing delivery by reforming the “lengthy and complex” process for agreeing the size of payments.
Housing minister Kit Malthouse said: “Communities and developers must know that vital infrastructure needed to support new homes is going to arrive – even before a shovel hits the ground.
“The billions of pounds already paid by developers has been critical in delivering the more, better, faster homes this country so desperately needs but we must go further.
“These reforms will make the system simpler, transparent and easy to understand and will accelerate the pace of homebuilding – it’s now up to house builders and residents to tell us what they think.”
The measures in the consultation, announced at the Autumn Budget in November, also aim to widen the scope of CIL so that it applies to more developments and can be spent on more different amenities.
Councils will also be required to publish details on how much developer contributions have been collected and spent.
The consultation will run until 31 January.
