CIL trips

[Nick Huxtable]

Have a property that includes a six story mill , no sails, a barn and a fallen down brick building. Put in for planning for five things on one application. One of which was to do up the tower to get it off the building at risk register. Another to convert the fallen building and sell as a self build to pay off the mortgage we had to get to repair the mill tower. 
    Four of the five were zero rated for CIL. We started the mill repair and the heritage department of the council were thrilled. Also put in a drive so our car wasn’t in the way of the ‘plot’.    
    Next we sell the plot with all forms filled in to transfer CIL liability to a self builder.

   In come the council and demand all the CIL payment in one go as we’d started one part of the permission so they said we’d started it all even though we hadn’t started the only CIL liable part. 
   Be careful as they’ll have you if they can.  
   Don’t know if we have any redress. Put it out here as a warning.  

Edited April 16 by Nick Huxtable
Predictive text😡

[Alan Ambrose]

Ah, that old trick. Which Suffolk borough are you out of interest - East I think? I think I might have seen that property for sale a while back - mill is very beautiful, with a mill pond, not so far from a train line?

 

>>> Don’t know if we have any redress.

 

Yes, I think you do and I assume the amounts are large. Suggest engage a CIL lawyer asap. There's some discussion on BH about finding and using one.

 

CIL seems to be one of those things that unscrupulous councils take the piss out of. Put one foot out of wrong will ya - that's you nailed.

[Nick Huxtable]

That seems to be the jist of it. Ours isn’t for sale yet but maybe now as we need to pay the mortgage off. Just seems morally wrong to me. 

[Alan Ambrose]

Ah I just read your post again - the situation is a bit complicated. This is a matter of timing and/or of paying the CIL on what might be a self-build for someone else? Amount not high enough for legal work?

 

No harm in arguing the point with them. I've actually found the East Suffolk CIL guys to be OKish, although they're clearly a revenue raising department.

[Nick Huxtable]

This is Babergh. Mid Suffolk. The amount is enough to mess up our plans but not enough to throw John Thaw at them. 
   Just very galling as l believe they’re wrong.