Planning Obligations, Community Infrastructure Levy and Viability

Planning obligations are secured under Section 106 of the Town and Country Planning Act (1990).  This is a legal agreement between the Council and the developer, which is negotiated when granting a planning permission. It ensures that developers carry out or contribute financially towards infrastructure or services required by proposed developments.  For example, new play areas for a new housing estate, or road improvements which will be needed. 

The Community Infrastructure Levy (CIL) is a levy which the Council charges on many new developments.  The CIL is charged per square metre on many new buildings, based on their use and location.  The CIL does not replace the need for Planning Obligations, which will continue to be secured to cover on-site measures that are needed to make a specific development acceptable, such as access works, drainage and greenspace management, and affordable housing.

The Council abides by the fundamental principle that planning permission may not be bought or sold. We will only seek a planning obligation if it would be wrong on land use planning grounds to grant planning permission without it.

For further information on planning obligations and CIL contact:

Planning Obligations Monitoring Officer

Email: cil@newcastle.gov.uk

Infrastructure Funding Statement

As a result of recent changes to the Regulations implemented through the Community Infrastructure Levy (Amendment) (England) (No.2) Regulations 2019 (which came into force on 1 September 2019), authorities now need to increase transparency for communities, by reporting on what they have received and spent through CIL and developer contributions and include information for the following year on CIL allocation.  Under these new regulations, Infrastructure Funding Statements (IFS) will replace CIL Regulation 123 Lists as the mechanism through which projects are identified for CIL and s106 funding.

The IFS will be published annually (between 2^nd Dec and 31^st Dec) and provide a summary of all financial and non-financial developer contributions relating to S106s and CIL within the City. It will include a statement of infrastructure projects that Newcastle City Council intends to, or may be, wholly or partly funded by CIL. It will also set out the CIL spending protocol setting out the process that the Council will undertake for allocating CIL receipts. Below are the latest and the previously approved statements over the years:

• 2022/2023 Infrastructure Funding Statement
• 2021/2022 Infrastructure Funding Statement
• 2020/2021 Infrastructure Funding Statement
• 2019/2020 Infrastructure Funding Statement

Note on the CIL ‘Regulation 123’ List

The requirement for the Council to maintain a CIL Regulation 123 list has been removed following the enactment of the new CIL Regulations 2019 on 1 September 2019.

Therefore, the CIL Regulation 123 list is now to be used as an informative document on how infrastructure may and will be delivered and funded in Newcastle City Council through CIL income and section 106 planning obligations. The City Council's CIL Regulations 123 list will be replaced by the Council's new Infrastructure Funding Statement by 31 December 2020.

Approved Developer Contribution Models

Newcastle City Council’s revised Planning Obligations SPD was approved by Cabinet on 20^th September 2021 following public consultation. The SPD will be used in determining all major planning applications.

• Planning Obligations SPD (Adopted September 2021) (PDF, 1mb)
• Current Monitoring Charges Arrangement (pdf, 48kb) 
• (These files may not be suitable for users of assistive technology. Request an accessible format. )

Local Training and Employment Planning Guidance

• Local Training and Employment Planning Guidance  (pdf, 145kb)  (This file may not be suitable for users of assistive technology. Request an accessible format. )

Viability Appraisal

Where proposals for development accords with all relevant policies, no viability assessment will be required. However, where on viability grounds it is not possible to comply with the associated local plan polices then a financial viability appraisal will be required.

The Council has produced a Guidance Note for Developers on Viability Appraisal  in Newcastle upon Tyne (January 2020) (pdf, 1mb) to guide developers on the Council’s assessment of viability considerations and appraisals submitted with planning applications.