Sector seeks links for levy

Planning, 11 January 2008

The Home Builders Federation and the British Property Federation said the Planning Reform Bill should spell out the need for the levy to derive from the infrastructure planning element of an LDF to ensure that charges are determined locally.

Transparent local infrastructure plans linked to future development are key to a tariff approach, the bodies said at a public bill committee meeting this week.

When these plans are tested at public inquiry, a "proper calculation" of an appropriate developer levy can be made, they added.

The sums raised must be for a specific infrastructure project, the groups urged. Writing this into the LDF would guarantee that the money does not simply sit in the bank in a "leap of faith", they maintained.

The industry has broadly welcomed the levy as preferable to the planning gain supplement. But the groups said a local assessment of infrastructure requirements should be carried out before a charge is decided.

The levy must be on top of current infrastructure funding and the clause on land value uplift should be deleted, the bodies insisted.