Ministry launches consultations on “emergency measures” around CIL and mayoral powers in bid to support London housebuilding

The Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government has issued consultations on temporary relief from CIL payments and on the mayor’s extended powers, both of which close on 22 January 2026.

The ministry said emergency relief was necessary because CIL should be calibrated so that it not make development of an area in which it is levied economically unviable.

“However, the procedures required to update a CIL charging schedule mean that CIL rates can be unresponsive to significant changes in viability, as has occurred in London,” it said.

“Where CIL charging schedules have not been recently updated, the application of indexation (to reflect inflation) can strain viability even further in the context of rising costs and flattening or falling sales values.”

Challenges including a significant increase in building material prices, a rise in financing costs and planning capacity pressures occurred in many places but were “particularly acute in London,” it said.

The Government said time-limited relief from CIL would make some projects viable that otherwise were not.

It said: “This decision has not been taken lightly. The Government recognises that CIL is an important source of funding for infrastructure to support development of an area.

“However, if development does not come forward due to viability and wider issues detailed above, CIL will not be paid at all.”

The relief will only apply to CIL charged by boroughs and not that charged by the mayor.

Local CIL is designed to cumulatively fund local infrastructure, while mayoral CIL is a levy to finance major transport infrastructure projects, with borrowing permitted against expected levy receipts.

Under the other consultation proposals, the mayor would have powers to call in applications for developments of 50 or more homes if the council concerned was minded to refuse.

There would also be a new power for the mayor to call in applications for development of a building of more than 1,000 square metres on Green Belt or Metropolitan Open Land.

Mark Smulian