AIDAN SMITH, Greenwich’s cabinet member for regeneration, explains why the community infrastructure levy is so important for the borough – and why rates for in-demand student housing are not going up.
Getting people into safe and secure homes is a priority for the council. With a growing need for affordable housing, local authorities all over the country are having difficult discussions on how we can address the housing shortage while still investing in social infrastructure that keeps people connected to critical services and, most importantly, one another.
The Community Infrastructure Levy (CIL) plays a role in this: from funding large strategic projects such as the fit out of the Woolwich Crossrail station, which has improved connectivity and created jobs, to smaller community-led projects like playgrounds and community gardens.
At the cabinet meeting on March 13, we agreed to submit a proposed review of the CIL to an independent examiner.
In our review we are proposing to charge £150 per sq m for Zone 1 (compared with the current charge of £102.97) and £96 per sq m for Zone 2 (compared with the current charge of £58.84) for residential development.
We are introducing a proposed charge of £90 per sq m for co-living schemes because we have received a number of proposals for this newer type of development in recent years. We are not proposing to increase the rates of CIL on student housing (£95.63 per sq m), or supermarkets and hotels (£147.10 per sq m).
The process of reviewing CIL rates is a technical, data-led process, where the council has to convince an independent examiner that any new rates will not affect the viability of development in the borough.
The evidence base for this argument includes a viability assessment, based on recent land and property sales, which we commissioned from an external specialist, who is very experienced in assisting councils with CIL reviews, and representations from organisations and the public.
Councillors are involved in scrutinising proposals, however, it is not a case of just proposing the rates we would like to receive, we have to provide evidence to support our proposals and convince the independent examiner.
Some have criticised our proposed residential rates as being too low, but the proposed rates are what the available evidence suggests is a fair balance between increasing the rates, but not to a level which would deter development, in line with CIL regulations.
We believe neither the submissions which proposed higher rates, nor those which proposed lower rates made a convincing case. If you compare the proposed rates with our neighbouring boroughs of Bexley (in 2023 charges ranged £54.83-£82.24), Bromley (in 2020 charges were £100) and Lewisham (in 2024 charges range from £102.97-£147.10), our proposed charges appear to be similar.
Although it is true to say that we have received several applications for student accommodation recently, no student housing has been built in Greenwich since around 2012, before we adopted CIL. The lack of recent data for this type of accommodation makes it difficult to prove that the rate could be increased and easier for those opposed to us increasing the rates to argue against the proposal, putting the other proposed increases at risk.
We will be monitoring the progress of different types of development in the borough, including student accommodation, and will consider bringing forward another review, or a partial review of individual charges, for example, student accommodation if we think there is more evidence to support increasing these rates at a future date.
AIDAN SMITH is a Labour councillor for Greenwich Park ward and the cabinet member for regeneration.
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