CIL and cohousing - Public forum - Planning Advisory Service (PAS)

Is cohousing a separate use from other forms of housing and can its viability be assessed and can it be CIL rated separately from other forms of housing? And if so, should all charging authorities be considering it separately in their charging schedules? Check out the net if you want to know more on cohousing, but basically it's housing developed by a community for itself and where the community wants to live as a community, intergrating far more with each other than is normally the case. The cohousing group is the developer and the development can be self build although it needn't be and often isn't. All cohousing developments have what is know as a 'common house' where the cohousers live out those part of their lives they want to live communally. They may want to eat some, most, or all of their meals there, they may want to educate their younger children there, they may want to plan communal holidays there, or simply sit and yarn with neighbours. Conceivably, one or two of them might run small businesses from the common house too. As a separate question from my question above, is the 'common house' a house? I would also say that HMRC have decreed that a new build 'common house' is not a house at all (primarily because it doesn't have bedrooms) and therefore VAT is payable on its construction. Cohousers react very strongly when you suggest to them that the common house is a community centre (they insist it isn't) and it wouldn't qualify for charitable relief because a cohousing group isn't a charity. So if it's not a house or a community centre, what is a 'common house' on a cohousing development it as far as CIL is concerned?