CIL Liability Notices and the Payment Process: A Step-by-Step Guide

Most disputes and unexpected costs around the Community Infrastructure Levy come down to one thing: notices submitted in the wrong order, or too late. The CIL process is a sequence of forms, each with a deadline, and missing one can convert a manageable instalment plan into a single lump sum plus surcharges.

This guide walks through the CIL notice sequence step by step, from the liability notice through to payment, and sets out the surcharges that apply when the timing goes wrong.

This covers England only. This is general guidance, not legal advice. Always follow your charging authority's specific forms and deadlines.

The Notice Sequence at a Glance

For a typical chargeable development, the sequence is:

1. Liability Notice — issued by the charging authority after permission is granted.
2. Assumption of Liability — submitted by the developer before commencement.
3. Commencement Notice — submitted by the developer before any work starts.
4. Demand Notice — issued by the charging authority setting out amounts and due dates.

Each step has consequences if skipped. The detail below explains who does what, and when.

Step 1: The Liability Notice

Once planning permission for a chargeable development is granted, the charging authority issues a Liability Notice. This sets out:

• The chargeable amount of CIL.
• How it was calculated — the floorspace figures, the charging-schedule rate, and the indexation applied.
• The reliefs or exemptions, if any have been applied.

The Liability Notice is the authority's statement of what is due. Check it carefully against your own appraisal. Errors in the measured floorspace or the rate applied do occur, and the time to challenge them is when the notice is issued — not after a Demand Notice lands.

If the development changes — for example through a Section 73 amendment — a revised Liability Notice may be issued, recalculating the charge. The recalculation applies the indexation rules current at the time, which is one reason amendments can change the cash position more than developers expect.

Step 2: Assumption of Liability

CIL liability attaches to the development, but someone has to assume it. A party with a material interest in the land submits an Assumption of Liability form to the charging authority — usually the developer.

Why this matters:

• Assuming liability is what gives access to the authority's instalment policy and the ability to benefit from any reliefs or exemptions.
• If no one assumes liability before development commences, liability defaults to the landowners, the full amount becomes payable on commencement, and the right to pay by instalments is lost.

Assume liability early — well before you intend to start on site. It is a simple form, but it is the gateway to the favourable payment terms.

Step 3: The Commencement Notice — The Critical One

The Commencement Notice must be submitted to the charging authority before any work begins on site. It fixes the date development started, which starts the clock on the payment timetable.

This is the single most important deadline in the CIL process. The consequences of getting it wrong:

• No Commencement Notice before work starts: the full chargeable amount can become payable immediately, with the right to pay by instalments lost.
• Where a relief or exemption was in place: starting work without a Commencement Notice can cause the relief to be lost entirely, and a surcharge applied.

"Commencement" of development has a specific meaning in planning law and is broader than many developers assume — material operations such as demolition, site clearance, or digging foundations can count as commencement. Do not treat enabling works as outside the rule. If in doubt, get the Commencement Notice in first.

Step 4: The Demand Notice and Payment

After commencement, the charging authority issues a Demand Notice setting out the payment amount(s) and the due date(s) in line with its instalment policy.

• Where the authority has an instalment policy and the developer has assumed liability and submitted a valid Commencement Notice, CIL can be paid in stages.
• Where those conditions are not met, the full amount is typically due as a single payment shortly after commencement.

Instalment policies are local — the number of instalments, the trigger points, and the thresholds vary between authorities. Read the policy that applies to your charging authority before you model cash flow.

Surcharges and Interest

The CIL Regulations give charging authorities a set of surcharges for procedural failures. The ones developers most need to avoid:

• Failure to submit a Commencement Notice (for relieved or exempt development): a surcharge equal to 20% of the notional chargeable amount, capped at £2,500.
• Failure to assume liability and other procedural defaults can also attract surcharges under the Regulations.
• Late payment attracts interest, and persistent non-payment can lead to enforcement, including a CIL stop notice that halts development until payment is made.

The authority has limited discretion to waive a surcharge — broadly, only where the surcharge would be less than the reasonable administrative cost of collecting it. Do not rely on a waiver.

A Worked Example of the Timing

Consider a developer with a chargeable residential scheme:

1. Permission granted; authority issues the Liability Notice showing the chargeable amount.
2. Developer reviews the notice, confirms the floorspace and rate, and assumes liability two months before the intended start.
3. A week before mobilising, the developer submits the Commencement Notice.
4. Work starts the day after the Commencement Notice date.
5. The authority issues a Demand Notice with two instalments per its policy, and the developer pays on the due dates.

Now change one thing — the developer mobilises and starts demolition before the Commencement Notice is in. The full charge becomes payable at once, the instalment right is lost, and on a scheme that carried a relief, the relief is lost and a surcharge applied. Same scheme, same liability, far worse outcome — because of one missed form.

What This Means for Tracking

The CIL notice sequence is a chain of dated obligations, and the cost of a missed link is high. On a single scheme it is manageable with a checklist. Across a portfolio — multiple authorities, multiple commencement dates, multiple instalment timetables — it is easy for a deadline on one scheme to slip while attention is on another.

Holding the notice dates, the assumed-liability status, the commencement deadline, and the instalment due dates for every scheme in one record is what keeps the chain intact. For the wider CIL picture, see our developer's guide to the Community Infrastructure Levy.

Summary

The CIL process is a sequence: the authority issues a Liability Notice, the developer assumes liability and submits a Commencement Notice before work starts, and the authority issues a Demand Notice setting out instalments. The Commencement Notice is the critical deadline — miss it and the full charge can fall due immediately, instalments are lost, and any relief can be forfeited with a surcharge of up to £2,500. Most CIL cost surprises are procedural, not about the underlying liability. Get the forms in, in order, before work starts.

Sources

• Community Infrastructure Levy Regulations 2010 (SI 2010/948)
• GOV.UK — Community Infrastructure Levy guidance