England’s Building Safety Levy has come into force, placing a new charge on qualifying residential development and tying payment to the building-control process.
The levy applies to relevant building-control applications and initial notices made from October 1. It is designed to raise money for remediation of unsafe residential buildings, shifting part of that cost to new development.
Local authorities will calculate and collect the charge. Rates vary by area and are generally based on gross internal floorspace, with a 50 per cent rate for qualifying previously developed land. Social and affordable housing and several institutional or supported-accommodation categories are exempt.
A development cannot avoid the regime merely by splitting one larger project into a series of smaller applications where the planning permission covers a major residential scheme. Information must be supplied during building control, and full payment is required before the completion certificate can be issued or before first occupation, depending on the applicable route.
The scheme adds a review and appeal structure for disputes over liability or amount. Developers may first ask the local authority to reconsider its decision and can then take eligible disputes to the First-tier Tribunal.
Projects already in the system require careful date analysis: the regulations generally do not apply to building-control applications made before commencement, while later variations and new applications may trigger separate obligations.
