Appendix 4: how to complete your Community Infrastructure Levy (CIL) appeal form

The Valuation Office Agency's (VOA) technical manual for Community Infrastructure Levy.

It is essential that you read all of these notes before you complete the appeal form online or in hardcopy.

Before starting to complete the form you should ensure that you have available and accessible all the information and documentation that is required.

Introduction

When you complete the online appeal form and the form has been submitted electronically, you will receive a confirmation of receipt. If this is not received within 24 hours, you should ring 03000 506165.

If the appeal is accepted as being valid you will receive a formal acknowledgement of your appeal with details on how it will proceed and who will be dealing with it. If the appeal is considered to be invalid you will be informed of this decision together with the reasons for the decision. If you do not receive a formal acknowledgement or are not informed of the appeal’s invalidity within 7 days of submitting your appeal you should ring 03000 506165 or email cil.appeals@voa.gsi.gov.uk.

Alternatively, if you prefer to send the form by hardcopy then it should be sent by recorded or registered post to the address below.

Valuation Office Agency,
SVT CIL,
BP5202,
Dunstanburgh House,
Benton Park View,
Longbenton,
Newcastle upon Tyne,
NE98 1ZZ

Once your hardcopy appeal is received it will be checked by the Valuation Office Agency, Statutory Valuations team Delivery Support team (SVT DST). You will then receive a formal acknowledgement of your appeal with details on how it will proceed and who will be dealing with it. However, if the appeal is considered to be invalid you will be informed of this decision together with the reasons for the decision.

If you do not receive a formal acknowledgement or are not informed of the appeal’s invalidity within 7 days of submitting your appeal you should ring 03000 506165, or email cil.appeals@voa.gsi.gov.uk.

Time limit for appeal

There are strict time limits in the regulations when making appeals. If these time limits are not met i.e. the appeal form and essential supporting documents are not received within the specified period, the appeal will be invalid.

These time limits are 60 days from the collecting authority’s decision on a review for Regulation 114 appeals and 28 days from the collecting authority’s Demand Notice or decision on a claim for charitable relief being issued.

Agent details

An agent is someone who is handling the appeal on behalf of the person or organisation making the appeal.

If you are an agent working for a company please enter your details as the contact in the person details section together with the name of your company. 

If you are an appellant without an agent click on the ‘No’ button and move to the appellant details section of the appeal form.

Appellant details

If there is an agent acting on behalf of the appellant we only need the name of the appellant recorded. These details should be recorded in the Person Details section and if the appellant is a company, their name should also be included.

Person Making Appeal

In accordance with the regulations only certain persons can make appeals under Regulations 114, 115 and 116 as follows:

Regulation 114

The person who requested the review of the chargeable amount under Regulation 113 from the collecting authority as the Community Infrastructure Levy (CIL) charge was considered to be incorrect.

Regulation 115

The owner of a material interest in the relevant land, being a freehold interest or a leasehold interest with more than 7 years to run at the date planning permission was granted.

Regulation 116

The person who has claimed charitable relief, or has assumed the liability to pay CIL

If you are not one of the above persons then you cannot make an appeal under these regulations.

In addition, in respect of Regulation 115 and 116 appeals please provide full details of the interest you hold.

If you hold a freehold interest please also provide full details of any subleases including the date the lease started, the length of the lease, and the rent currently being paid.

If you hold a leasehold interest please provide full details including the date the lease started, the length of the lease and the rent currently being paid. Please provide similar details for any subleases.

Reason for appeal

There are limited grounds for appeal under Regulations 114, 115 and 116 as follows:-

Regulation 114

You disagree with the decision of the collecting authority on the review or a decision has not been made within 14 days of your application for a review.

Regulation 115

You disagree with the apportionment of the CIL liability as set out in a Demand Notice issued by the collecting authority.

Regulation 116

You consider that in the decision of the collecting authority the value of the interest in land in respect of which the claim was made was incorrect.

If your grounds for appeal are not specifically included in the above then you cannot make an appeal under these regulations.

Commencement of development

If the relevant development has commenced then you cannot make an appeal under Regulations 114 or 116.

In addition, if the relevant development commences before an appeal under Regulation 114 or 116 has been decided then the appeal will lapse.

Chargeable development

Full details of the chargeable development need to be provided including the site address, application or appeal reference number and a brief description of the development.

If the development is as a result of a general consent, for example, a development with permitted rights under the Town and Country Planning (General Permitted Development) Order 1995, then full details need to be provided.

Interested parties

The interested parties differ between the 3 appeals and they are as follows:

Regulation 114

  1. The charging authority where this is not the collecting authority (for example, the Mayor of London).
  2. The person who has assumed liability to pay CIL in respect of the chargeable development in accordance with regulation 64A(3).
  3. A person who has been served with a notice of chargeable development in accordance with regulation 64A(3).
  4. In the case of a general consent, the person who has submitted the notice of chargeable development.
  5. In the case of planning permission granted subject to a condition requiring that further approval is obtained before commencing development, the person who has applied for that approval.
  6. In all other cases, the person who applied for planning permission.

Regulation 115

  1. The person who has assumed liability to pay CIL in respect of the chargeable development.
  2. A person with a material interest in the land.
  3. In the case of a general consent, the person who has submitted the notice of chargeable development.
  4. In the case of planning permission granted subject to a condition requiring that further approval is obtained before commencing development, the person who has applied for that approval.
  5. In all other cases, the person who applied for planning permission.

Regulation 116

  1. The charging authority where this is not the collecting authority (for example, the Mayor of London).
  2. The person who has claimed the charitable relief.
  3. The person who has assumed liability to pay CIL in respect of the chargeable development to which the charitable relief applies.

The following paragraphs apply to all appeals whether made under Regulation 114, 115 or 116:

  • The appointed person must send to the interested parties copies of the formal acknowledgement of the appeal and the completed appeal form and inform them that he must receive written representations from them within 14 days of the acknowledgement of receipt of the appeal or such longer period as he may determine in any particular case (the representations period).
  • On receipt of interested parties’ representations the appointed person must, as soon as practicable, send a copy of those representations to yourself and to each of the other interested parties.
  • You and the interested parties must send your comments on each others representations to the appointed person within 14 days of the end of the representations period; and the appointed person must as soon as practicable after receipt, send a copy of those comments to each of the other parties to the appeal. If, in the process of providing comments it is decided that new evidence has been presented, this will be sent to the other parties and further comment invited.
  • However, the appointed person will have no regard to any comments sent after a period of 14 days from the end of the representations period.

Grounds of ppeal

All your grounds for appeal should be included with the appeal form as the completed form is deemed to comprise all of your representations in respect of the appeal. However, you will be able to comment on the interested parties’ representations.

The evidence you provide to support your appeal can take any form and may include data, plans, sales evidence, expert reports and other documents etc.

The Valuation Office Agency will consider all the representations and comments received from you and all the interested parties before arriving at a decision. All of your representations must be received within the 28 day or 60 day time limits, as appropriate. Any representations received outside this period will be ignored.

Essential supporting documents

Essential supporting documents must be provided as these are essential in making a decision on the Appeal. If these are not attached to the online or hardcopy appeal form, but you have indicated that they are to follow then the appointed person must receive them within 28 day or 60 day appeal period, as appropriate. If they are not received within this period the appeal will not be valid and you will be informed accordingly.

Online form

If you are attaching any plans, please indicate the paper size that the plan should be printed on in the brief description field e.g. proposedplan@A4.

Please click on the box to the left of each document that applies to the circumstances of this appeal. This will activate the indicators below it to tell us if the document will follow by post, or is attached in electronic form. If you click in a left hand box by mistake, you can click it again to correct.

You can attach any of the required supporting documents that you have in electronic form. If we have not provided enough rows for you to attach all the relevant documents under the headings below, please e-mail them to us at cil.appeals@voa.gsi.gov.uk with the name of the appellant and site address in the body of the message together with your reference, if applicable. Any documents that you do not have in electronic form can be sent to us by post together with the name of the appellant, the site address and your reference, if applicable.

Please use the brief description field below to describe the document that you are sending, so we can clearly identify each document sent to us. For example – Review Decision 12-05-2012

Hardcopy form

If you are sending any plans or documents then clearly mark them with the name of the appellant, the site address and your reference, if applicable.

Other supporting documents

The other listed documents are not considered to be essential. However, where appropriate, they may still be helpful and enable us to process the appeal more efficiently. If these are not attached to the appeal form, but you have indicated that they are to follow then they must be received within the 28 day or 60 day appeal period, as appropriate. If they are not received within this period they will be ignored.