The community infrastructure levy (CIL) a planning charge for developers and landowners that supports the development of local infrastructure.
It's charged per square metre on new developments that include:
- new dwellings of any size
- any development where the internal area of a new building, extension or change of use exceeds 100 square metres
Find out more about community infrastructure levy on the GOV.UK website
See if you're liable for the community infrastructure levy
All the information you need to see if you're liable for the community infrastructure levy (CIL) is on the Planning Portal website
Exemptions and relief from CIL
Your project may be exempt from CIL under certain circumstances.
Find out about CIL exemptions on the Planning Portal website
Download community infrastructure levy forms
All the CIL forms from 1 to 14 are available online.
Download CIL forms online from the Planning Portal website
Calculate the costs of CIL
Type of development | CIL rate |
Residential | £120 per square metre |
Hotel | £120 per square metre |
Specialist accommodations for the elderly and/or disabled including sheltered and retirement housing and nursing homes, residential care homes and extra care accommodation. (This does not include registered, not for profit care homes)(within use class C2 and C3) |
£120 per square metre |
Retail (Class A1 - A5) | £120 per square metre |
Retail - Within the primary shopping area (Class A1 - A5) |
£55 per square metre |
Office | £0 per square metre |
Industrial | £0 per square metre |
Other uses | £0 per square metre |
Major developed areas (MDAs) | £0 per square metre |
More information about the latest indexation rate can be found on the RICS website
The index is set by the CIL Regulations 2010 (as amended). It's set on 1 January and is the index figure for 1 November of the preceding year.
The index figures that are used to calculate indexation for Watford's adopted Charging Schedule in 2020 are:
Year |
Index figure |
2015 (the year the charging schedule took effect) (lc) |
255 |
2020 (the year in which planning permission was granted) (lp) |
334 |
2021 (the year in which planning permission was granted) (lp) |
333 |
Instalment information
You can pay your CIL in the following ways:
£0.00-£34,999.99 |
100% @60 days |
£35,000.00- £99,999.99 |
25% @60 days 75% @120 days |
Over £100,000 |
25% @60 days 50% @120 days 25% @360 days |
Download Watford CIL guidance information
You can download all the information you need about Watford community infrastructure levy (PDF)
Appeal a decision
To appeal a CIL decision, you can find information on the GOV.UK website
Infrastructure Funding Statement
New national planning regulations which came into force on 1st September 2019 stated that any local authority that receives a financial or non-financial contribution from development through Community Infrastructure Levy (CIL) or section 106 planning obligations must prepare an Infrastructure Funding Statement (IFS) by the 31st December 2020 and annually thereafter.
This first report covers the period from 1st April 2019 to 31st March 2020 and reports on all developer contribution receipts and expenditure during the financial period.
The infrastructure funding statement 2019-20 for Watford Borough Council can be found below:
Watford Borough Council Infrastructure Funding Statement Report 2019/20