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What is a community infrastructure levy (CIL)?

The council began charging the community infrastructure levy (CIL) on planning permissions granted from 1 January 2019.

The CIL allows local authorities in England and Wales to raise funds from developers carrying out projects in their area to fund a wide range of infrastructure that is needed to support new development. It does not replace Section 106 planning obligations which continue to be used for affordable housing provision and site-specific mitigation measures which are necessary to make a planning application acceptable in planning terms.

How is the charge calculated?

CIL is calculated on a square metre basis and each authority has its own charging schedule (see below) which states the rates for different types and scales of development.  Information on the development of the CIL Charging Schedule can be found on the Joint Core Strategy website.

If you’re applying for planning permission for any of the following you should complete the CIL additional Information form and submit it alongside your application for planning permission.

  • New buildings, conversions or changes of use that create at least one new dwelling; or
  • Residential extensions or annexes which increase the floor area of a dwelling by 100 square metres or more.

Some types of development are exempt, such as buildings into which people do not normally go, or go only intermittently for the purpose of maintaining or inspecting machinery or temporary planning permissions. There are some types of development, for example self-build housing, extensions, annexes and social housing, for which relief may be claimed.

Guidance on completing the form and further information on CIL is available on the Planning Portal website.

Charging schedule

The adopted scale of charges are subject to annual indexation and the above schedules must therefore be read in conjunction with our annual CIL rates summary statement which sets out how indexation will affect the adopted CIL Charging Schedule rates for relevant CIL chargeable development permitted in the following calendar year. The CIL rate summary statement 2025 shows the  CIL rates that will apply from 1 January 2026 to 31 December 2026 for relevant CIL liable development to which they apply.

For previous years CIL Rates Summary Statements see below.

The CIL process

The CIL flow chart gives an overview of the process and the steps required.

Please see our CIL guide for more details on the CIL process and how it works.

Exemptions and relief

A development is not classed as chargeable if:

  • It is not a building.
  • It is a building but people do not normally go into it.
  • It is a building but people only go into it intermittently for the purpose of inspecting or maintaining fixed plant or machinery.
  • It is a vacant building which will be brought back into the same use.
  • It increases the floor area by less than 100m2  unless a dwelling is created.
  • It is not included or currently attracts a zero charge in the relevant authorities charging schedule.

A development may be eligible for relief in the following circumstances:

  • Where an application for a self-build exemption has been successful (CIL Forms 7, 8 or 9).
  • Where an application for a social housing exemption has been successful (CIL Form 10).
  • Where an application for a charitable development exemption has been successful (CIL Form 10).

If you believe that you may be eligible for any of the above exemptions, please submit the relevant form for consideration. All forms can be downloaded from the Planning Portal website.

Alternatively, please contact:

Tewkesbury Borough Council

  • By email: cil@tewkesbury.gov.uk
  • By Post: CIL Team, Tewkesbury Borough Council, Public Services Centre, Gloucester Road, Tewkesbury. GL20 5TT

Surcharges and enforcement

CIL is a process prescribed by regulations that dictates the information required at set stages. Whilst every effort will be made by the Council to send reminders of triggers and request forms, the onus is on the applicant to follow the process.

It is important for applicants to understand their obligations and the result of failure to comply with the requirements. To help the Council have published a guide on the surcharge and enforcement procedure (pdf 273 KB).

More details can be found in the full regulations by following the link below:
www.legislation.gov.uk/uksi/2010/948/pdfs/uksi_20100948_en.pdf

How will the levy be spent?

CIL monies collected are apportioned into three areas:

  • Administration
    • Up to 5% for administrative costs;
  • Neighbourhood
    • 15% to the parish council subject to a cap of £100, plus indexation in each financial year, per existing property in the parish; rising to
    • 25% uncapped if the parish council have a ‘made’ neighbourhood plan;
    • In other councils, which have non-parished areas, the 15% neighbourhood funding is held by that council, from development in those areas, to be spent in consultation with the community; and
    • Where a Neighbourhood Forum has a ‘made’ neighbourhood plan for the designated Neighbourhood Area this rises to 25% held by the council to be spent in consultation with that neighbourhood forum; and
  • Infrastructure
    • the remaining 70% to 80% is held by the Council for use on, “the provision, improvement, replacement, operation or maintenance of infrastructure to support the development of its area”.

On the 23rd January 2024, the council approved the establishment of a CIL Joint Committee with Cheltenham Borough Council and Gloucester City Council, along with the pooling of the ‘Infrastructure’ funding. The first meeting of the Joint Committee took place on the 12th November 2024, dealing with appointments, adopting the Terms of Reference for the Joint Officer Working Group to support the Joint Committee and approving the Assessment Criteria for schemes coming forward for funding. The second meeting took place on the 3rd March 2025 and made the first allocations to infrastructure projects. For more information visit our Browse meetings – Community Infrastructure Levy (CIL) Joint Committee webpage

A report on CIL income and expenditure for each previous financial year must be published, as part of the infrastructure funding statement, by 31st December each year.

Please visit our Developer contributions webpage to download the infrastructure funding statement.

Information for parish councils

A key element of the community infrastructure levy (or CIL) is that a proportion of the money secured from development is passed on to the relevant town or parish council where that development has taken place, this is known as the neighbourhood fund.

Tewkesbury borough council has published this guide to assist town and parish councils within the borough to understand their rights and responsibilities relating to the CIL neighbourhood fund:

To access support that is available through the borough council’s community and economic development team and Gloucestershire rural community council (GRCC), which is working with the borough council to provide targeted support on assessing and prioritising town and parish councils infrastructure needs, please see link for the contact in your area:

In any financial year when a parish receives, holds or spends CIL monies they are required to produce a ‘parish funding statement’ which must be published on their website having first been submitted to, and agreed with, the borough council. The regulations provide a template for this which, to assist town and parish councils, we have converted into an on-line form which must be completed by the 30th June each year reporting on the previous financial year.

Preparation of the CIL charging schedules

If you would like to know more about the process of preparing the CIL charging schedules culminating in the independent examination in public please follow this link: