The government has published an independent review of community infrastructure levy (CIL) which recommends a new approach to developer contributions.
Commissioned in Nov 2015, the purpose of the review was to assess the extent to which CIL does or can provide an effective mechanism for funding infrastructure, and to recommend changes that would improve its operation in support of the government’s wider housing and growth objectives.
The review group submitted their report to ministers in October 2016 and concluded that, given the strengths and weaknesses of both systems, “we should have a system where we can use the best of both elements to optimize contributions from all development, including the smallest, towards the cumulative impacts of development over an area whilst acknowledging that the largest and most complex developments requires a bespoke approach to their specific infrastructure needs.”
Accordingly the review report recommends replacing the current CIL and s106 system with a hybrid system combining a broad and low level Local Infrastructure Tariff (LIT) applying to most developments with Section 106 for larger developments. The report and associated research findings can be found found here.