What is the In Use Building Credit?
The In Use Building Credit is set out in the CIL regulations at Regulation 40
"in-use building” means a building which —
(i) is a relevant building, and
(ii) contains a part that has been in lawful use for a continuous period of at least six months
within the period of three years ending on the day planning permission first permits the chargeable development;
“relevant building” means a building which is situated on the relevant land on the day planning
permission first permits the chargeable development.
We theory the regulation is as straightforward as it sounds. If your development is equal in size or smaller then the existing buildings onsite, you should pay no CIL, and if it's bigger, then you pay CIL only on the increase in floor area.
In those cases where your building has been in use for more than 6 months in the last 3 years (i.e. you can show use that is in accordance with any existing consent) this is plain sailing, and you won’t need our help.
Of course, in practice CIL collection departments are keen to disapply the in-use building credit, and often applicants have failed to even claim the credit.
It will be apparent from the definition above that the period of ‘use’ is determined from the date planning is granted (not the date the planning application is made).
With most planning applications taking over 6 months – it is never too late to put the building into use, as the date of the grant of planning can often be delayed by slowness in signing S106 agreements or similar administrative foot dragging.
In practice there are many grey areas in the application of the ‘in use building credit’ – so if you are in doubt, do telephone to discuss utilising our CIL mitigation services.
