Community Infrastructure Levy for London homeowners
The Community Infrastructure Levy is a charge councils place on new development, and the regulations exempt some of it. A new build under 100 square metres is exempt unless it comprises a dwelling, an owner-occupied extension to your own home can qualify for relief, and a self-build claim has to reach the council before work starts.
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What the levy is, and when a householder meets it
The levy is a charge on new floor space, collected by the council that charges it. Whether you owe anything depends on what you are building, who will live in it, and what your council's own charging schedule says. This guide covers the exemptions in the national regulations, not the rates, because rates differ from one council to the next and you should read the one for your borough before you budget.
A kitchen extension to the house you live in is the case the regulations are most likely to relieve. The projects where the levy matters most are new homes, so it sits closest to our new build drawings work.
The 100 square metre line, and the dwelling catch
Regulation 42(1) of the Community Infrastructure Levy Regulations 2010 means there is no liability where the gross internal area of the new build will be less than 100 square metres. Read that on its own and a small outbuilding or annex looks safe.
Regulation 42(2) closes the gap for homes. The minor development exemption does not apply where the development will comprise one or more dwellings, so a small new house or a self-contained unit cannot rely on the 100 square metre figure. The text of the regulation is on legislation.gov.uk. If your project creates a separate home, our guide to converting a house into flats covers the planning side of that question.
From 1 April 2026 the statutory fee for a full application to erect fewer than 10 dwellinghouses is £610 for each dwellinghouse (MHCLG fee indexation, category 1(3)(a)).
Extending the home you live in
Regulation 42A(3) deals with a residential extension, meaning an enlargement to the main dwelling that does not comprise a new dwelling. It can be exempt when the owner occupies the main dwelling as their sole or main residence.
Two things follow. The relief turns on the owner living there, so a rented-out property does not fit it, and an extension that is really a second home, such as a self-contained basement flat, is a different project. For a normal family extension, our house extension drawings service prepares the plans the council expects, and the council will tell you what it needs to confirm relief.
Self-build relief and its deadline
Self-builders have their own route. Under regulation 54B(2)(b), a self-build exemption claim must be received by the collecting authority before commencement of the chargeable development.
The deadline catches people, because a builder can start on site as soon as planning permission is in hand. Treat the levy claim as a task that sits between permission and the first day of work. The step-by-step guide to getting planning permission shows where that gap falls in the usual sequence.
The planning fee is a separate charge
Do not confuse the levy with the fee for the application itself. From 1 April 2026 the statutory fee for a full application to erect fewer than 10 dwellinghouses is £610 for each dwellinghouse (MHCLG fee indexation, category 1(3)(a)). That fee is paid to the council with the application, whatever happens to the levy.
Our own drawings are priced separately again, from the pricing page, and the council fee is never included in them.
Sources
Every figure on this page, where it comes from and a link to the original.
| Figure | Source | Link |
|---|---|---|
| 100 square metres | Community Infrastructure Levy Regulations 2010 reg 42(1): no CIL liability where the new build gross internal area will be less than 100 square metres (source wording: "less than 100 square metres") | www.legislation.gov.uk |
| one or more dwellings | Community Infrastructure Levy Regulations 2010 reg 42(2): the minor development exemption does not apply where the development will comprise one or more dwellings (source wording: "will comprise one or more dwellings") | www.legislation.gov.uk |
| residential extension | Community Infrastructure Levy Regulations 2010 reg 42A(3): a residential extension (an enlargement to the main dwelling that does not comprise a new dwelling) can be exempt when the owner occupies the main dwelling as their sole or main residence (source wording: "is an enlargement to the main dwelling") | www.legislation.gov.uk |
| before commencement | Community Infrastructure Levy Regulations 2010 reg 54B(2)(b): a self-build exemption claim must be received by the collecting authority before commencement of the chargeable development (source wording: "before commencement of the chargeable development") | www.legislation.gov.uk |
| £610 | Fees for planning applications in England from 1 April 2026 (MHCLG, SI 2012/2920 as annually indexed), category 1(3)(a): full application for the erection of fewer than 10 dwellinghouses, per dwellinghouse (source wording: "£610 for each dwellinghouse") | assets.publishing.service.gov.uk |
Questions people ask
What is the Community Infrastructure Levy?
Do I pay the levy on a home extension?
Photographs: Tim Green from Bradford (CC BY 2.0).
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