The Community Infrastructure Levy (CIL) is a planning charge. It was introduced by the Planning Act 2008 as a tool for local authorities in England and Wales to help deliver infrastructure that supports development in their area.
Local authorities have to decide how the infrastructure needs of the development proposed will be met and how these will be paid for.
We have adopted a CIL and have provided a Supplementary Planning Document (SPD). These explain how CIL and planning obligations work together.
Guidance on the CIL and your application
New development, including extensions to buildings, could be liable for the CIL. Charges are per square metre of additional floor space. This applies to:
- the creation of a new dwelling, regardless of size, including change of use to residential, regardless of whether or not it includes additional floorspace
- other development of 100 square metres or more
CIL guidance notes
Calculating the amount of CIL you need to pay
You can calculate the amount of CIL payable by using the CIL calculator.
The index in July 2015 was 254. As of January 2025, it is 391.
If a decision date is not entered, this represents an additional 53.94% on top of the charge generated by the CIL calculator. You will need to add the additional percentage on yourself .
If you do not enter a decision date, the CIL calculator will not include the additional indexing charge that has been applied since July 2016.
Town and Country Planning Act
The Town and Country Planning Act (Use Classes) Order 1987 was amended in 2020 by the Town and Country Planning Act (Use Classes) (Amendment) (England) Regulations 2020.
For the avoidance of doubt, the development types referred to in the Sheffield City Council Community Infrastructure Levy Charging Schedule June 2015 are not restricted, or tied to, the use classes shown in brackets.
The referenced classes were intended to be ‘a useful reference point’ as described in the Viability Study 2014 (paragraph 2.5). This was the evidence base used to inform the Charging Schedule. Any exemptions to the types of development liable are clearly stated in the corresponding footnotes.
Annual CIL Rate
The Annual CIL Rate Summary 2025 sets out the CIL rates from 1 January 2025 and includes the additional index charge.
These charges will not change until the next index is applied on 1 January 2026.
Information required
If your development is liable for CIL, an additional information form will be required for submission alongside the planning application form.
Local CIL
We are required by CIL Regulation 59A to pass 15% of CIL receipts in the area of a local council to that council.
In Sheffield, there are 3 local councils:
- Bradfield Parish Council
- Ecclesfield Parish Council
- Stocksbridge Town Council
Where there are no local councils, CIL Regulation 59F requires us to use 15% of CIL to “support the development of the relevant area”. We have chosen to allocate this local CIL to individual wards and to use our Local Area Committees as a mechanism for making decisions on how to spend the local CIL.
We will also pass any Local CIL received directly to areas where there is an adopted Neighbourhood Plan.
More information can be found on Neighbourhood Plans.
How the CIL is spent
New CIL regulations have removed the requirement for authorities to publish a CIL Regulation 123 Infrastructure List.
By 31 December 2020, this list can be replaced with an infrastructure funding statement.
In the meantime the list remains a useful indication of infrastructure that may be CIL funded.
Section 106 Planning Agreements
These new regulations also allow for CIL and Section 106 contributions to be used to fund the same infrastructure and allow us to seek monitoring fees for S.106 agreements.