THE COMMUNITY INFRASTRUCTURE LEVY
Since a change in government policy a couple of years ago, the developer of each new house or flat has to pay a Community Infrastructure Levy, or CIL, so as to meet at least part of the cost of additional infrastructure, facilities and services, recognising the impact of new households in the area. It is funding for items such as additional class rooms, new doctors surgeries, new roads etc.
The charge is based on the size of each property, but there are exceptions. For example the levy is not applied to new social housing or on extensions. The money is not to be used for ongoing running costs or maintenance. 80% of the money is spent on major schemes around the whole borough, and 5% to administer the CIL scheme. The balance of 15% is available for smaller local improvement projects in each local community.