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Representation ID: 1797

Received: 12/12/2014

Respondent: Cogent Land LLP (Cogent)

The CIL Guidance identifies that Charging Authorities do not have to set a nil rate; they can set a low rate in instances where developments appear to be unviable. It is the Charging Authoritys prerogative establish the appropriate balance between raising money from CIL to deliver much needed infrastructure to support development in their area and not putting development across the Charging Authority area at risk. In this regard it is noted that the CIL Guidance identifies that there is no requirement for a proposed rate to exactly mirror the evidence .... There is room for some pragmatism.
We fundamentally disagree with this assumption and believe that the inclusion of an unviable CIL rate will have a significant influence over where development takes place and whether site come forward for development. Over 70 Local Authorities across England and Wales, with similar viability concerns, have taken a pragmatic approach to setting their CIL rates and are proposing £0 per sq m CIL rates for both strategic sites and low value areas (list included at Appendix 5).