Double tax blow

Community infrastructure Levy (CIL) is supposed to be for the provision of roads, sewers, libraries, village halls, education facilities and other local requirements which have always been funded in the past from council tax, including the increased council tax paid by the occupants of the new houses for which CIL is claimed (Letters). Local councils are now effectively being paid twice for the same provision.

the rules forbid affordable housing contributions being demanded as part of CIL: councils are supposed to levy them separately under Section 106 of the town & Country Planning Act 1990.

in 2014, the Secretary of State introduced a policy variation that affordable housing contributions and other charges shouldn’t apply to developments of ten dwellings or fewer because they had a disproportionate effect on small builders and the financial viability of developments.

But this was successfully challenged in the High Court by two councils. the Secretary of State won on appeal and the policy was reinstated, but some councils are exploiting a technical loophole in the High Court judgment and are demanding affordable housing bungs including for developments of just one house.

these ‘contributions’ — usually 30 to 40 per cent of the development’s gross value — have meant that the number of small builders creating single dwellings and small developments has dropped from 6,000 to fewer than 3,000.

they can claim exemption for individual projects on the grounds that these charges make their developments nonviable, but bureaucratic delays and the costs involved in persuading councils of nonviability make it not worth the hassle.

these demands are a major contributor to the housing shortage and the drastic increase in prices.

TREVOR DENNINGTON,

Thurston, Suffolk.