CIL Procedures and Forms

In order for the council to identify whether your development is liable for CIL, you must send us an Additional Information form (Form 1).

The CIL guidance note on the planning portal will help you to complete this form.

If your application is CIL liable, please provide floor plans showing how the floorspace has been calculated, as this will help us process your application more efficiently.  This should include existing (where appropriate) and proposed plans. If an existing building is to be demolished (or partly retained) please provide the floor plans so we can include existing floorspace in the CIL calculation. Please note that only relevant buildings that have been in lawful use (for at least six months within the last three years) can be considered for the purpose of calculating CIL.

If a Form 1: Additional Information is not received, the Council will calculate the CIL charge based on the information available. We cannot deduct any existing floor space without a Form 1 as we will have no information on the previous use of the building/s.

General permitted development

Depending on its size, you may need to pay a CIL contribution for a development, even if you didn’t need planning permission (under ‘permitted development’).

If you intend to begin construction under permitted development you must send us a CIL Form 5 – Notice of Chargeable Development

In some cases we can grant relief or exemption from CIL (see below).

The person responsible for paying CIL must send us an Assumption of Liability Notice (Form 2). If they don’t do this they may face extra charges.

If no-one assumes liability to pay the levy before development commences, liability defaults to the landowners.

Alternatively, if after you submit CIL Form 2, a change in circumstance happens which affects the liable person/party then you will then need to submit CIL Form 3 to withdraw liability and CIL Form 4 to transfer liability before the final CIL payment is due.

If you believe a development should be exempt from CIL, and want to claim Social Housing, Self-Build or Charitable Relief, you need to submit one of the following forms:

CIL Form 7 – Self Build Exemption, Part 1

CIL Form 8 – Self Build Residential Annex

CIL Form 9 – Self Build Residential Extension

CIL Form 10 – Claiming Exemption or Relief (charitable/social housing relief)

Important note - we must receive your claim for relief, and grant it, before you begin work on the development. If development begins before relief has been granted then your claim will be cancelled.

Please note that retrospective applications cannot benefit from CIL relief.

If you have a development that was previously subject to relief and it is subsequently amended by Section 73 permission, creating a new levy liability, you can submit a further relief claim form.

CIL Form 12 – Further Charitable and/or Social Housing Relief Claim

CIL Form 13 – Further Exemption Claim

Any relief granted will be shown in your Liability Notice.

For more information please see the claiming for relief or exemptions from CIL page.

Important note - for Householder Applications – The council adopted an approach to not apply CIL to planning applications with a ‘HSE’ postscript. Please see the CIL guidance for applicants and developers (160KB PDF) for more information.

To calculate CIL we take the gross internal area (GIA) of the floorspace of all CIL liable buildings within a development (including garages and conservatories), and then multiply this figure by the charge for that type of use.

Where a development will have multiple types of use, we’ll split the floorspace by type and then multiply it by the relevant charges.

CIL is calculated on the basis of the floorspace in existence on the date planning permission is granted.

Important note – please include floorspace measurements on your planning application so we can carry out the required checks and process your application quickly.

Gross Internal Area includes internal walls and partitions, chimney breasts, stairwells, lift-wells, atria and entrance halls, internal open-sided balconies, corridors, mezzanine floor areas, service areas (WCs, showers, changing rooms), lift rooms, plant rooms etc. It excludes things like open balconies, open fire escapes, greenhouses, garden stores and fuel stores. Generally, any structure with three or more walls and a roof is considered to be internal floorspace for the purpose of calculating CIL.

Please see the Royal Institute of Chartered Surveyors Code of Measuring Practice for more information.

Floorspace subject to demolition or resulting from change of use can only be deducted from the CIL charge where it has been in continuous lawful use for at least six month in the three years ending on the day planning permission first permits the chargeable development. It will be for the applicant or agent to demonstrate lawful use.

When planning permission is granted we’ll send you a Liability Notice which sets out the liable amount and which will become payable when development commences. If permission is granted by planning appeal we will issue a Liability Notice based on the approved floorspace drawings.

If there’s a change in circumstance (claim received after a liability notice has been sent and there is a different person assuming liability) we will issue a revised Liability Notice.

Before you start building work on a CIL liable development you must send us a Commencement Notice (CIL Form 6), including the date that you start work on the development.

Please email this to cil@hertsmere.gov.uk - you will receive confirmation from us. If you do not receive confirmation within one week please get in touch. When you send the commencement notice by post please send it either via a receipt or recorded delivery.

Commencement is any work carried out, including: erecting a building, demolition, digging a trench, laying underground pipes or mains, any operation to construct a road, or any change in the use of land that is classed as material development.

Please note - if we don’t receive CIL Form 6 and work on the development has begun we will charge a penalty and you may need to pay CIL in full.

If you would like to benefit from our Instalment policy (166kb PDF), please inform the council when you submit your commencement notice.

If following commencement of the development, the planning permission is amended through a section 73 permission, the applicant is not required to submit a new commencement notice.

After we receive a valid Commencement Notice we will send you a Demand Notice for CIL payment.

The notice will inform you of the amount you’ll need to pay and the payment dates.

The Demand Notice will provide instructions on how to make the CIL payment.

We currently accept payment by BACs or through the Council's online payment system.

When paying online, please ensure that you have selected 'CIL Payment' and entered the application reference number and address of the development.

Please note, currently the online payment system can only process payments of up to £100,000.00. If you wish to pay a larger instalment via the system, you will need to complete several separate transactions. Please indicate that there are multiple payments in the description box.

Any relief granted on an application is subject to a clawback period.

Charitable and Social Housing relief is subject to a 7 year clawback period starting from the date of commencement. During this time, if the development ceases to be used for the approved purpose, the relief is disqualified and the CIL will be due in full immediately.

If you were granted self-build relief, you will need to submit a Form 7 Self-Build Exemption Claim Part 2 and the accompanying evidence within 6 months of completion. The Council will issue an acknowledgement of this form once received. Failure to submit this form within the time frame may result in the self-build relief being disqualified and the full CIL charge becoming due.

It is important that you apply for a completion certificate from Building Control once works are complete. The clawback period will not commence until this has been issued.

Properties granted self-build relief are subject to a 3 year clawback period. If the development is sold or rented during this time the relief is disqualified and the CIL will be due in full immediately.

If you don’t pay on time, we will add interest and may charge you a penalty. When the CIL procedure is not followed correctly you may also lose your rights to pay CIL in instalments, lose your exemption and further surcharges may apply.

Please refer to the Section 13 of the CIL guidance for applicants and developers document (370kb PDF) 

Please refer to Section 14 of the CIL guidance for applicants and developers document (370kb PDF)