The Community Infrastructure Levy Regulations 2010 (as amended) state that we must spend Strategic CIL funds on 'the provision, improvement, replacement, operation or maintenance of 'infrastructure' 'necessary to support growth'.

Strategic CIL is intended to focus on the provision of new infrastructure and not to be used to remedy pre-existing deficiencies in infrastructure provision unless those deficiencies will be made more severe by new development.

The Planning Act 2008 states that infrastructure includes:

• roads and other transport facilities
• flood defences
• schools and educational facilities
• medical facilities
• sporting, recreational facilities and open spaces.

The Community Infrastructure Levy Regulations 2010 (as amended), Regulation 63 specifically excludes 'affordable housing' from the definition of infrastructure.

Waverley will spend strategic CIL in accordance with this definition.

We have an Infrastructure Delivery Plan (IDP) which sets out the infrastructure required to support planned growth in Waverley, as well as the cost and phasing of delivery:

• Infrastructure Delivery Plan(December 2016)
  • Infrastructure Delivery Schedule Update (July 2021)
  • Infrastructure Delivery Schedule Update (October 2024)

The IDP is a living document that identifies infrastructure requirements in an area, setting out what is needed, where, and when. It is used as evidence for both the Local Plan and the Community Infrastructure Levy (CIL) and helps co-ordinate the partnerships required to deliver infrastructure improvements in a timely manner to support development.

The amount of strategic CIL funds available is viewable on our developer contributions database.

The Application Pack for the 2026 to 2027 bidding round is available:

Strategic CIL Bid 2026 to 2027 -application pack

The application pack contains a copy of the scoring criteria, against which all bids for Strategic CIL funding will be assessed; the criteria will help determine how well the proposed infrastructure projects will support development within Waverley.

The application pack also includes guidance for potential bidders. We strongly advise that all applicants read the guidance contained within the application pack prior to completing an application form. Applicants must ensure the evidence required within the Application Pack is submitted alongside their bid by the 30th October deadline.

If you wish to discuss whether your project would be eligible for Strategic CIL funding, please contact the CIL team: CIL@waverley.gov.uk

All your personal information will be held and used in accordance with the General Data Protection Regulations (GDPR). For details of how we gather, define and use your information, please see our privacy notice.

Projects allocated strategic CIL funding in past bidding cycles are available to view on our developer contributions database, under the 'Strategic Allocated' or 'Strategic Spent' sections.

Where all or part of a CIL chargeable development is within the area of a parish council, Waverley Borough Council must pass a proportion of the CIL receipts from the development to the relevant parish council. This portion is referred to as 'Neighborhood CIL', 15% is passed (capped at £100 per council tax dwelling) to the relevant parish council where development has taken place, or 25% (uncapped) in areas where there is a 'made' Neighbourhood Plan.

There is more flexibility in Neighbourhood CIL expenditure, in comparison to Strategic CIL. The CIL Regulations require that the relevant parish council must use the CIL receipts passed to it to support the development of the parish council's area by funding the provision, improvement, replacement, operation or maintenance of infrastructure; or anything else that is concerned with addressing the demands that development places on the area.

You will need to contact the relevant town or parish council directly to find out if they have received and if so how they have chosen to allocate and spend their Neighbourhood CIL.

We would welcome discussions with town and parish councils on potential opportunities to combine neighbourhood CIL funds with strategic CIL funds in order to finance infrastructure projects.

The following timetable will apply for the 2026/27 Strategic CIL bidding cycle.

Waverley Borough Council is responsible for making the final decision on the allocation of all strategic CIL funds. The CIL Spending Executive Working Group will make funding recommendations to the Executive who can make the decision on funding under £2.5 million. For funding recommendations of £2.5 million and over the Executive Committee willl consider making their own recommendation to full Council, as the decision making body. There is no right of appeal against decisions on the allocation of Strategic CIL funding. The Strategic CIL Bidding process is highly competitive and not all applications will be successful in receiving CIL funding.

It is not necessary for the CIL Spending Executive Working Group to recommend that all CIL funds available are allocated. If schemes are not deemed high priority, the strategic CIL funds will not be allocated and will be reserved for the next strategic CIL bidding cycle.

Frequently asked questions