CIL Discretionary Review

The council has committed to a discretionary review process for Community Infrastructure Levy (CIL) cases, which will allow eligible applicants to request a review and reassessment of their charge in cases where they believe an error has been made.

What is the CIL Discretionary Review process?

The council has agreed that it would consider requests from eligible applicants to undertake a discretionary review of their case.

It is not intended to enable the review of a CIL charge where the CIL liability has been assumed by a developer (whether that be an individual or a company).

Each case will be considered on its merits and reviewed in accordance with the Executive agreed procedure for the Discretionary Review, as per the meeting on the 1 July 2025.

Read the decision on the Discretionary CIL Review

The council has absolute discretion in the application of this Scheme and in determining the eligibility for re-issue of a Liability Notice, Demand Notice, or refund of any CIL already paid.

As agreed by the Executive decision the review will be carried out by an experienced independent person.

How do I request a CIL Discretionary Review?

If you are a householder and wish to request a Review of your CIL under the scope of the Discretionary Review, please send an email titled ‘CIL Discretionary Review’ to cilhouseholderreview@waverley.gov.uk

The covering email for your request should clearly detail:

• The name(s) and contact details of the person(s) requesting the review
• The address of the property/land to which the request for review relates
• The planning permission to which the request for review relates

To be valid, we would expect that the following documents accompany any request for a review:

1. Evidence that the development is (or will be) the applicant own home (and main or sole residence)
2. Land Registry Title Deeds confirming ownership of the property/land subject to the review request (this should relate to the relevant point(s) in time as per the CIL Regulation requirements).
3. A written statement outlining the full reasons why the applicant considers their case should be reviewed, including any supporting evidence and copies of correspondence with the council.
4. Any comment, information or views on the nature of the error that you consider has occurred.
   Where you consider the council has made an error, please note the onus is not on you to demonstrate this. You are able to submit a Discretionary Review even if you are not aware of a council error or if you or your agent has made an error. The reviewer will be assessing whether there has been an error by the council in the handling of all cases. This will include any errors made during the life of the application that may have then impacted on CIL.
5. This should include a timeline of the events that you consider are key to any error occurring if this is possible noting that the error may be the council's, your's or your agents.  
6. Where relevant, provide your understanding of the commencement date of the development (in accordance with definition of ‘commencement’ within the CIL Regulations).
7. Copies of all CIL forms submitted to the council (including dates of submission and proof of service to the council) if you have these details.
8. Copies of all correspondence with the council regarding the CIL and the relevant development that you hold.
9. Where relevant, details of any review or appeals made in relation to the case under the CIL Regulations (including any decisions). If no review or appeals have been submitted, you should explain why you did not pursue this route for challenging the CIL.
10. Where relevant, details of any formal complaints made to the council regarding the CIL (including any associated Ombudsman decisions)
11. Where relevant, if you consider that the error made has led to you being ineligible for relief or exemption you should provide evidence to demonstrate that you would have otherwise met the relief or exemption criteria, if the correct process had been followed, prior to commencement of development.
12. Where relevant, evidence that in the event of an error by the agent that the applicant has sought to recover the CIL liability payment from the agent. Additionally, evidence or confirmation should be provided that the applicant has not already received payments from their agent or their insurance provider.

The council reserves the right to request further information from you where it would assist in the determination of a review.

How will my review be assessed?

Upon receipt of a valid review request, an evidence pack will be produced which includes:

1. Proof that the applicant meets the eligibility requirements for a review
2. Confirmation that the review does not include any agreed ‘Exclusions’ except in the case where the householder is challenging the principle of whether a permission should have been determined as retrospective
3. The request made by the applicant (including any comment and evidence presented by the applicant)
4. Development timeline and background (including presentation of all the communication with the Householder (or their professional representation) on CIL)
5. Any relevant decisions (i.e. CIL Appeals, Ombudsman decisions)

To ensure fairness and to reduce potential bias or pre-judgement, all cases will be presented in an anonymised format.

Who will conduct a review?

Any request for a discretionary review of the CIL payment will be considered by an independent, professionally qualified and experienced person. This person has now been appointed. The independent person will carry out a full review and make a recommendation to the Assistant Director of Planning as to whether there should be a withdrawal or revision to the CIL liability. The Assistant Director of Planning will then make the decision which will be published on-line.

What happens following a review?

The independent person will carry out a full review and make a recommendation to the Assistant Director of Planning as to whether there should be a withdrawal or revision to the CIL liability.

In cases where no payment has been made to date, and the decision following the review is the relevant development is not CIL liable then the previously issued Liability Notice will be withdrawn and there will be no further action in relation to the enforcement of the CIL.

In cases where payment has already been made to the council, a refund will be made in accordance with the CIL Regulations.

If the outcome of the review process is that the CIL has correctly been charged via the issued Liability Notice, then this decision will be final with no further right of appeal.

If the CIL liability is yet to be made, the council will need to consider the expedience of taking Enforcement Action to recover the payment.

All decisions will be published in line with the council procedure for report publication.

What other action is the council taking?

The Assistant Director of Planning will prepare a report to be considered by the Executive at the first opportunity possible following 3 months and 9 months respectively of the commencement of the review. The report will include a summary of all decision made by the date of the report together with any changes to the way CIL is the customer journey taken from learning through the review process.

The council will also reflect on any outcomes from the review process to improve on how it can better support residents and applicants (including professionals who represent such clients) in understanding and complying with the requirements of the CIL Regulations.