Part 13: General Schedule 12: Infrastructure Levy Part 10A, Section 204G: Amount Background
New section 204G requires a charging authority to, in accordance with IL regulations, issue a document, called a charging schedule, in respect of development in its area. This schedule will set out for the authority’s area the IL rates, or other criteria, which will be used to calculate the amount of IL that must be paid.
	The provisions in new section 204G largely replicate those that exist currently for CIL in section 211 of the Planning Act 2008, with the following changes:
Under subsection (1), all charging authorities ‘must’ issue an IL charging schedule – whereas under existing section 211(1), it is for a charging authority to decide whether it proposes to charge CIL (and only if it does so propose, must it issue a CIL charging schedule)
Charging authorities, in setting rates or other criteria, must also have regard to some additional factors, changing the way in which rates are set from CIL. These include matters relating to the economic effects on land value of various aspects of the planning and development process (subsection (6)(b)); levels of IL revenues in an authority’s area (subsection (6)(c)); and its infrastructure delivery strategy (subsection (6)(d)). It is no longer a requirement of the primary legislation that charging authorities consider the actual and expected costs of delivering infrastructure, or other sources of funding for infrastructure, when setting rates.
A new provision is added (subsections (2)-(5)), requiring that when setting rates, to the extent and in the manner specified in regulations, charging authorities must seek to ensure that the level of affordable housing that is funded by developers and the level of funding provided in this regard by developers can be maintained at a level which delivers at least the same amount of affordable housing and funding when compared with a previous specified period. This evaluation can include affordable housing delivered and funding for affordable housing which is provided under the current system of section 106 obligations. This duty does not apply if the local authority considers that complying with it would make development of their area economically unviable.
IL regulations may, in addition, permit charging authorities to provide for rates to change over time or when specified events occur (subsection (8)(f)).
IL regulations may, in addition, permit or require charging schedules to operate according to the kind of area/place, or existing use of the place, where development is undertaken (subsection (10)(c)), and permit or require any threshold below which IL is charged at a nil or reduced rate to be determined in a specified way (subsection (10)(g)).
The provision made in subsection (11) which allows IL regulations to require a charging authority to provide estimates in connection with IL chargeable in respect of development of land is amended.