Changes to forms once development commenced. - Public forum - Planning Advisory Service (PAS)
Changes to forms once development commenced.
REBECCA STADDON, modified 8 Years ago.
Changes to forms once development commenced.
Advocate Posts: 103 Join Date: 05/09/13 Recent PostsHi,
I have a situation I would like some help with please.
The site is conversion of a redundant bakery to residential.
CIL Form 0 was submitted and Liability Notice issued.
The commencement of the site came through on a Building Control Report so Demand Notice was issued.
It came to light that the person that commenced work on site apparently had no authority to do so so the owners of the land (as given by Land Registry) does not feel they should have to pay.
I advised that the situation was unfortunate but the Demand Notice stands and is payable. Surcharges have been incurred for failure to assume liability, failure to submit a Commencement Notice and 30 day late payment.
The owners have now employed an agent to act on their behalf and he is now stating that there was a sitting tenant in the bakery and therefore a portion of the building was in lawful use and this could be verified by Council Tax records.
My question is: As the development has commenced, are they able to start changing the information that was contained within their Form 0?
Their Demand Notice was issued at the beginning of December 2015 and has never been appealled so it seems to me that, even if they could provide evidence of the sitting tenant (their job, not mine!), it is too late and the Demand Notice stands as work has commenced.
I would be grateful for any and all feedback.
Many Thans
Rebecca
I would agree that as the development has commenced they can't request that new evidence is considered to demonstrate "in-use" or appeal against the calculation of the chargeable amount.
R40 - without sufficient information to establish in-use, a collecting authority may deem the building not to be in use. R113(2) - reviews of a chargeable amount must be made in writing to the charging authority within 28 days from the date the liability notice was issued, and R113(9) - a person cannot request a review once the relevant development has been commenced (subject to para 9A).
Rebecca Randall, modified 8 Years ago.
RE: Changes to forms once development commenced.
Enthusiast Posts: 60 Join Date: 06/05/14 Recent PostsHi
R.65(5) states that a collecting authority can issue a revised liability notice at any time, and likewise R.69(3) says the same about issuing a revised Demand Notice. So i think you probably can issue revised notices even though they have commenced. However, you do not HAVE to issue revised notices because they lose the right to appeal the chargeable amount following commencement. So its up to you how helpful you want to be, or I guess whether you believe that the bakery has been in lawful use.
I normally find talking to our revenues team to suss out the history of business rates at the site can be useful in helping to determine a lawful use.
Thanks for your help yesterday btw
The question appears to be whether we can only accept such evidence of use before commencement (in keeping with R113)? Or whether, because we can issue a revised liability notice at any time information changes, that evidence can be accepted at any point. Liabilities can change post commencement for a number of reasons – S73s, withdrawal of relief – which would necessitate a new liability notice. But if the regs say the Council (R113) and the VOA (R114) cannot consider appeals on the calculation of a charge once commencement starts, should that not mean that evidence of use post commencement can no longer be accepted?
In a different example, which I’d expect to see at some point: Planning permission received for a replacement house, builder doesn’t submit evidence of use of the existing property he will demolish as he intends to obtain self-build exemption, builder granted exemption but then starts on site and either fails to submit commencement notice or part 2 of his exemption claim so relief withdrawn and full charge due. Can he now submit evidence that the previously existing house had been in lawful use?
I would argue that providing new evidence is not the same as requesting a review, under Reg.113, of the original calculation.
The object of the exercise is to get the liable party to pay the correct amount of CIL. If it transpires, after commencement, that a mistake was made by the liable party in not saying that a building was, in fact, "in use" then I don't see why they should be penalised by that mistake.