Croydon Council is moving an updated Community Infrastructure Levy charging schedule towards formal decisions that could introduce new town‑centre rates for housing developments. The council says the schedule follows statutory consultation and an independent examination whose examiner concluded the proposed levy provides an appropriate basis for collection and that the rates do not threaten Local Plan delivery. The schedule is therefore proposed and remains pending formal scrutiny, Cabinet and Full Council stages.
Council timetable and status
The council has set out the next steps for the updated charging schedule. It says the schedule will be considered by Scrutiny on 15 September, by Cabinet on 23 September and by Full Council on 21 October. Until those decision stages are complete, the levy remains a proposal rather than an adopted charge, and no new CIL rates are yet in force.
An independent examination that preceded the current schedule is cited by the council as having assessed the proposed levy. According to the council, the examiner found the proposed charging schedule to be an appropriate basis for collecting a Community Infrastructure Levy and judged that the proposed rates would not pose a threat to delivery of the Local Plan. Those conclusions form part of the council’s stated rationale for taking the schedule forward to formal decision points.
Proposed town‑centre rates reported by local outlets
Local reporting sets out the proposed charges for the Croydon Metropolitan Centre in the schedule being taken forward. Those reports give a proposed rate of £225 per square metre for developments that provide 10 or more homes, and a proposed rate of £300 per square metre for schemes of nine or fewer homes. Those figures are reported as the town‑centre housing rates contained in the draft charging schedule.
According to those reports, the proposed charges would end a local zero CIL rate that has been applied since 2013. Because the schedule remains under consideration by Scrutiny, Cabinet and Full Council, the reported rates are proposals at this stage and not confirmed charges that will be collected.
Projected revenue and how it should be read
Local reports also refer to a council projection that the updated charging schedule could generate £112 million over five years. That figure is presented by the council’s documents as an estimate of potential CIL receipts and should be read as an indicative forecast rather than as booked revenue or guaranteed income.
The council’s timetable and the examiner’s report are central to understanding the current position. The examiner’s assessment supports the legal and viability basis for the proposed levy as a mechanism for collecting contributions through the Community Infrastructure Levy, while the dates for Scrutiny, Cabinet and Full Council mark the remaining procedural steps before any adoption could occur.
Until the council completes the stated scrutiny and decision stages, developers, residents and other interested parties should treat the reported rates and the five‑year revenue estimate as proposals. Any practical effect of the charging schedule — including the levying of charges at the reported rates and the receipt of projected funds — would depend on the outcome of the formal decision process set out by the council.
