Community Infrastructure Levy

The Council does not currently operate the CIL charging system.

Introduced by the Planning Act 2008, the Community Infrastructure Levy (CIL) is a planning charge on new developments that local authorities in England and Wales can use to help deliver infrastructure in order to further support the development of their area.

In North Norfolk

As part of developing the new North Norfolk Local Plan 2024-2040, our viability work took into account site-specific and policy costs. It concluded that only a limited margin exists, beyond a reasonable return to the landowner and developer, to accommodate CIL charges.

As a result, it was not recommended that North Norfolk District Council pursue a CIL charging system in the current economic circumstances as part of this Local Plan.

Developer contributions

To secure the delivery of necessary infrastructure, the Council continues to rely primarily on Section 106 agreements to secure any necessary developer contributions for each site proposal. These legal agreements are used to deliver site-specific infrastructure such as open space, access improvements, habitat protection, and affordable housing.

They also help deliver infrastructure requirements to properly service, manage and mitigate the impact of development, which:

1. Meets the tests set out in the National Planning Policy Framework (paragraph 58, December 2024) and the specific requirements as set out through the new North Norfolk Local Plan, in particular Policy HC 4 Infrastructure provision, Developer Contributions and Viability.
2. Are directly related to the development and are necessary to make the development acceptable in planning terms and are fairly and reasonably related in scale and kind to the development.
3. Cannot be secured through planning conditions.

Further information

• Community Infrastructure Levy | GOV.UK. This guidance explains what the Community Infrastructure Levy is and how it operates.
• Contact planningpolicy@north-norfolk.gov.uk or 01263 516318 if you need to discuss the Community Infrastructure Levy.