Terrified of CIL "Gotcha" Loopholes

[BTC Builder]

I'm wondering if anyone can put my mind at rest or perhaps warn me of any potential pitfalls/booby traps the council will want me to fall in to.

 

Right off the bat, it's my belief that CIL is a scam with regards to self build exemption. If you're exempt, you should be exempt. The fact that if a digger turns up you're immediately invalidated without the correct paperwork is a travesty for ill-informed builders.

 

With that out of the way, the council wanted £44k for my self build. I was able to reduce this down to £30k when the demolition of the existing property was taken into consideration. 

 

Apparently, my exemption form was sent to the council with my planning application from the architect. To this day, I've never seen this form, it's not viewable on the planning portal. I suppose I should ask the architect to send me a copy.

 

When planning permission was granted, the council were straight in touch wanting an assumption of liability. This is when they told me verbally over the phone that they already had my exemption form with my planning application.

 

After sending the liability form, they wouldn't email me confirmation of my exemption. They claimed that they'd emailed it to me several times, which I never received and I gave them an alternative email address which they also claimed to have sent to, which I also never received.

 

This went back and forth for around a week so I demanded they sent the exemption confirmation through the post or I'd just turn up at the council building for someone to place it in my hand.

 

Anyway, it eventually arrived through the post and it clearly says in bold letters that I'm liable for £0 due to a deduction of £30k self build relief.

 

I know I need to send them a commencement form which I will do several weeks early, but as the title says, I'm terrified of falling into booby trap and then the council being like, "Ha, gotcha, that will be £30k please, payable within the next 14 days."

 

If I were to need to pay CIL the project is dead, there's no budget or contingency for it. 

 

Does it sound right the the exemption form went in with the application and liability was accepted after?

 

Since planning was approved, I've sent a non material amendment (also approved) to add a window at the back and reposition 3 other windows. The size and design of the property did not change. Could this affect anything? Side note, I didn't receive conformation that the non material amendment was approved, nor is it on the planning portal. It simply says approved under the status.

 

Any other shenanigans I should be aware of? Sorry for going on so much and thanks to anyone who has made it this far! 

[MikeSharp01]

Hi and welcome to THE forum. I have no experience of CiL, our LA does not have it, so I cannot help but there have been loads of members that have been through it so you should get some advice when the world wakes up

[Dave Jones]

It's pretty straightforwarded but has to be done in order, our CIL officer was really helpful.

 

1st - send CIL Form 7 Part 1

wait and get a reply

2nd - send CIL Form 6 Commencement Notice

finish build and get completion cert

3rd - send CIL Form 7 Part 2

 

[nod]

The Cil isn’t a scam It’s very straightforward compared to most of the planning issues 

The cil is there for building contractors to help pay for the infrastructure around there builds 

Self builds are exempt 

 

I went into our first build having never heard of cil 

I counted them by phone and asked a simple question What constitutes a breach I was given a straightforward answer 

Heavy plant onsite 

Breaking ground 

We had a building to demolish and needed test pits 

Whilst demolishing the building was considered a breech Stripping the slates and roof Timbers wasn’t 

Bringing in a digger for test pits was ok Providing it was removed once done 

 

So I went into our next build fully armed with all this knowledge 

Wrong 

We had purchased two plots and a field We intended building one and putting the foundations in for the second I was fully aware that the cil exemption could only be claimed on one But not aware that in breaking ground for the second, would make me a developer Hence a bill for 68k 

Payable within 30 days of breaking ground They where quite helpful when I contacted them Stating building one would reverse this and immediately reversed this 

 

 I think it’s always best to do this by phone and ask for an email to confirm 

I expected our Architects to know this But they didn’t have a clue 

Telling me that it’s my responsibility to do this application for  now obvious reasons 

 

From reading posts on here over the past few years Planners seem to put there own interpretation on this 

[Bramco]

The only gotcha could be the time limits for sending the commencement notice and the final Part 2.

 

It all seems to be an excessively complicated and onerous process BUT if you make sure that the forms are submitted on time, then everything should be OK.

And it doesn't matter what is being built, this is all about the fact that a new dwelling is being built and for each new dwelling there is a levy for infrastructure. AFAIK, some councils have a lower threshold for the number of dwellings where the CIL is applied. So in some cases, if a developer is building less than say 5 or 10, then the CIL isn't applicable. Sounds like you, like us, are in an area where every development has CIL applied and then self builders like yourself have to get the exemption. The process is overly complicated but easy to follow - just remember to do it!

 

Simon

[Temp]

14 hours ago, BTC Builder said:

Since planning was approved, I've sent a non material amendment (also approved) to add a window at the back and reposition 3 other windows. The size and design of the property did not change. Could this affect anything? I didn't receive conformation that the non material amendment was approved, nor is it on the planning portal. It simply says approved under the status.

 

In my day they would send you a revised grant with a copy of the revised drawings stamped approved. Like they did for your original application?

 

Has it all gone electronic now? At the very least I would expect the portal to have a copy of the revised drawings  marked approved. 

[miike]

I have a £250k CIL exemption on my build so I've also been naturally paranoid about falling through into one of the loopholes that loses you the exemption. My CIL officer was helpful though - I submitted all the necessary forms, then asked them to confirm that I have done everything correctly and if I can now submit the building commencement notice. They confirmed in writing, then I submitted the commencement notice, and after they acknowledged it, I once again asked them to confirm in writing that all necessary steps for the CIL self build exemption have been completed. 

They replied back saying I was good to go and what the remaining steps would be once the building was complete. 

 

Prior to the building commencement date, I didn't even go on the plot with so much as a pair of hedge trimmers in fear of being accused of starting work (I think in reality it's when you bring on heavy machinery). 

 

You can ask your officer to explicitly state that all steps have been completed so far, and if you can now submit the commencement notice. 

[BTC Builder]

58 minutes ago, miike said:

I have a £250k CIL exemption on my build so I've also been naturally paranoid about falling through into one of the loopholes that loses you the exemption. My CIL officer was helpful though - I submitted all the necessary forms, then asked them to confirm that I have done everything correctly and if I can now submit the building commencement notice. They confirmed in writing, then I submitted the commencement notice, and after they acknowledged it, I once again asked them to confirm in writing that all necessary steps for the CIL self build exemption have been completed. 

They replied back saying I was good to go and what the remaining steps would be once the building was complete. 

 

Prior to the building commencement date, I didn't even go on the plot with so much as a pair of hedge trimmers in fear of being accused of starting work (I think in reality it's when you bring on heavy machinery). 

 

You can ask your officer to explicitly state that all steps have been completed so far, and if you can now submit the commencement notice. 

Wow, I can only imagine that paranoia. My CIL officer has been neutral at best, certainly not helpful. The email debacle "oh but we've sent it three times now" has lowered my trust in them even more. 

 

I can receive all emails from them other than the one that contains the documents I need, how very odd 🤔 

 

When the documents came through the post, I emailed for confirmation that my exemption was in place and all I got back was "you need to follow the steps laid out in the documents we sent you". I don't trust them at all. 

[Alan Ambrose]

With £30K at risk, I would spend an hour or two and (a) read the CIL rules on the .gov website twice and (b) read every CIL thread here on BH. There are a few gotchas described in the threads. LPAs seem to be quite variable in general - mine is fair-ish on CIL and apparently arrogant and unscrupulous and crazy slow on planning. I can email my LPAs CIL people and ask them ‘can I do this without invalidating my self-build CIL exemption’ and I’ll get a thorough and helpful reply. CIL is, of course, a revenue raising activity and the rules are fragile.

Edited March 17 by Alan Ambrose

[Dave Jones]

there really isnt any risk. you send CIL Form 7 Part 1 wait for the reply and crack on.

 

No need for umpteen emails, the official reply to CIL Form 7 Part 1 is all that is required.

 

 

[newhome]

On 16/03/2024 at 07:51, Dave Jones said:

It's pretty straightforwarded but has to be done in order, our CIL officer was really helpful.

 

1st - send CIL Form 7 Part 1

wait and get a reply

2nd - send CIL Form 6 Commencement Notice

finish build and get completion cert

3rd - send CIL Form 7 Part 2

 

 

Part 2 should be 

 

send CIL Form 6 Commencement Notice, wait for council to acknowledge, finish build and get completion cert

 

As long as you don’t start anything before they acknowledge the form then you can’t be liable, but don’t forget the final step / documentation required in the euphoria of having finally finished. 

 

 

[Temp]

Do make sure your non-material Ammendment was definitely granted. 

 

If you build the house and later they turn around and say the changes are material and a new application is needed you could run in into a CIL problem because work has already been started. 

 

 

[BTC Builder]

1 hour ago, Temp said:

Do make sure your non-material Ammendment was definitely granted. 

 

If you build the house and later they turn around and say the changes are material and a new application is needed you could run in into a CIL problem because work has already been started. 

 

 

The cynic in me worries that this is another booby trap. On the one hand, it says granted on the portal. On the other, the actual decision letter is not, nor has it been sent to my architect. 

 

This is one of the reasons I started this thread, is this potentially an elaborate loophole?

 

I'll email them tomorrow about this very issue.