What is the In Other Relevant Building Credit?
The Other Relevant Building Credit is the less widely known second limb to In Use Building Credit set out in the CIL regulations at Regulation 40.
for other relevant buildings, retained parts where the intended use following
completion of the chargeable development is a use that is able to be carried
on lawfully and permanently without further planning permission in that part
on the day before 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.
In theory the regulation is as straightforward as it sounds.
If your development is equal in size or smaller than the existing buildings on site, which already have planning permission to be used for the same use that your new planning application proposes, you should pay no CIL, and if its bigger, then you pay CIL only on the increase in floor area.
The critical point here is that the building need not have been in use for more than 6 months in the last 3 years to take advantage of this provision.
This credit is particularly useful where you already hold a pre–CIL Charging Schedule permission for an existing building, and are seeking a new post CIL consent, because the CIL regulations do not generally allow credit for Pre CIL consents.
NB it does not help when there are no buildings standing at the date the new permission is granted.
Of course, in practice CIL collection departments are keen to disapply the Other Relevant Building Credit, and often applicants have failed to even claim the credit.
In practice there are many grey areas in the application of the ‘other relevant building credit’ – so if you are in doubt do telephone to discuss utilising our CIL mitigation services.
