Community Infrastructure Levy
Residential CIL rates for 2026 in the South West, Brighton and London
Short answer
For planning permissions granted in 2026, the residential CIL rate for a new home is £125.00 per square metre in Bristol's inner zone and £89.29 in its outer zone, £154.44 across most of Bath and North East Somerset, up to £111.89 in North Somerset and up to £209.58 in Brighton and Hove. In London the Mayor's CIL of £30.30 to £96.97 per square metre is charged on top of the borough's rate. South Gloucestershire charges CIL but we found no 2026 rate summary on its website.
Every figure below was read on 28 September 2026 from the charging authority's own rate summary, CIL page or charging schedule. The RICS CIL Index for 2026 is 400. Extensions under 100 square metres pay nothing (see CIL on an extension).
Residential rates, 2026
Rates are per square metre of gross internal area, for permissions granted between 1 January and 31 December 2026.
| Charging authority | Schedule took effect | Residential base rates | 2026 indexed rates | Source |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Bristol City Council | 1 January 2013 | Residential (C3): inner zone £70; outer zone £50 | Inner zone £125.00; outer zone £89.29 | Annual CIL rate summary for 2026, published 12 December 2025 |
| Bath and North East Somerset Council | 6 April 2015 | District wide £100; strategic sites or urban extensions £50; Bath Western Riverside £0 | District wide £154.44; strategic sites £77.22; Bath Western Riverside £0 | Annual CIL rates summary, updated 26 January 2026 |
| South Gloucestershire Council | 1 August 2015 | £55, £100, £80 or £130 by area and site size; £0 in two new neighbourhoods | Not published | Charging schedule, adopted March 2015, revised November 2023 |
| North Somerset Council | 18 January 2018 | Zone A £0; zone B £20 (strategic sites) or £40; zone C £40 (strategic sites) or £80 | Zone A £0.00; zone B £27.97 or £55.94; zone C £55.94 or £111.89 | CIL indexation guidance notice 2026, published December 2025 |
| Brighton and Hove City Council | 5 October 2020 | Residential (C3): zone 1 £175; zone 2 £150; zone 3 £75 | Zone 1 £209.58; zone 2 £179.64; zone 3 £89.82 | Community Infrastructure Levy page |
| Mayor of London (MCIL2), on top of the borough rate | 1 April 2019 | Band 1 £80; band 2 £60; band 3 £25 | Band 1 £96.97; band 2 £72.73; band 3 £30.30 | Mayoral CIL annual CIL rate summary 2026 |
| Westminster City Council | 1 May 2016 | Prime £550; core £400; fringe £200 | Prime £811.80; core £590.40; fringe £295.20 | Annual CIL rate summary 2026 |
| Lambeth Council | 1 January 2022 | Zone A £500; zone B £350; zone C £250; zone D £200 | Zone A £602; zone B £422; zone C £301; zone D £241 | Annual CIL rate summary 2026 |
"Not published" means we could not find a 2026 annual CIL rate summary on the council's website on 28 September 2026. We have not calculated one.
Notes on the zones
- Bath and North East Somerset: the council notes that its 2026 figures are rounded. The strategic site rate applies to the sites mapped in its charging schedule.
- South Gloucestershire: £55 applies in the communities of the north and east fringe of Bristol, Yate and Sodbury, and Severn Beach, and £80 in the rest of the district. The higher rates, £100 and £130, apply in those same two areas to small sites below the affordable housing threshold. Cribbs Patchway and East of Harry Stoke new neighbourhoods are £0.
- North Somerset: zone A is Weston town centre, zone B outer Weston, zone C the rest of the district. The lower rate in zones B and C applies to strategic development areas, which include the Weston Villages and sites of 500 or more homes.
- Mayor of London: band 1 includes Westminster; band 2 includes Lambeth. Health and education uses are nil rated.
- Lambeth: zone A is Waterloo and Vauxhall Nine Elms, zone B Kennington, Oval and Clapham, zone C Brixton, Herne Hill and Tulse Hill, zone D Streatham, Streatham Hill and West Norwood. Lambeth publishes its indexed rates in whole pounds.
How the 2026 rate is worked out
Schedule 1, paragraph 1 of the CIL Regulations 2010 sets the formula. In words: for each rate in the charging schedule, multiply the rate by the chargeable floor area, then by the index figure for the year planning permission was granted, and divide by the index figure for the year the charging schedule took effect. Add the results together. If the total is under £50, nothing is payable.
The chargeable area is, broadly, the gross internal area of the development, less existing floorspace that is demolished or kept, where part of the building has been in lawful use for a continuous six months within the three years before permission.
In this paragraph the index figure for a given calendar year is ... (b) in relation to the calendar year 2020 and any subsequent calendar year, the RICS CIL Index published in November of the preceding calendar year by the Royal Institution of Chartered Surveyors.
The RICS CIL Index figure for 2026 is 400. BCIS, which prepares it for RICS, published it on 27 October 2025. The year that counts is the year planning permission is granted, not the year work starts. For an outline permission it is the year the outline was granted (planning practice guidance, paragraph 105a, added 17 June 2026).
| Year permission granted | RICS CIL Index |
|---|---|
| 2021 | 333 |
| 2022 | 332 |
| 2023 | 355 |
| 2024 | 381 |
| 2025 | 391 |
| 2026 | 400 |
Each charging authority must publish its indexed rates for the coming year in an annual CIL rate summary, between 2 and 31 December (regulation 121C).
This page covers England. Schedule 1 and regulation 121C were inserted for England only, by SI 2019/1103; in Wales, regulation 40 still indexes rates to the BCIS All-in Tender Price Index.
Worked examples
A new 120 square metre house in Bristol's inner zone, permission granted in 2026, no existing building on the site: 120 × £125.00 = £15,000.
The same house in Lambeth zone C: borough CIL 120 × £301 = £36,120, plus Mayoral CIL band 2, 120 × £72.73 = £8,727.60. Total £44,847.60.
Both examples use the published indexed rates. Councils calculate with the formula itself, and North Somerset and the Mayor both note that the actual liability may differ slightly from the rounded published rate. The council's liability notice is the figure that counts. Both figures are before any exemption: if you build or commission the house to live in, the self-build exemption can remove the charge.
What this means for you
For a new home or a large extension, check the council's annual CIL rate summary for the year you expect permission, and add the Mayor's rate in London. The CIL checker takes you through the exemptions.
Parallel, working from Bristol and Brighton, carries out site appraisals and development appraisals, where the CIL rate is one of the costs of a new home.
Sources
- CIL Regulations 2010, Schedule 1: calculation of chargeable amount legislation.gov.uk
- CIL Regulations 2010, regulation 121C: annual CIL rate summary legislation.gov.uk
- CIL (Amendment) (England) (No. 2) Regulations 2019, regulation 1: application to England only legislation.gov.uk
- BCIS: RICS Community Infrastructure Levy Index bcis.co.uk
- Planning practice guidance: Community Infrastructure Levy, paragraphs 099, 104 and 105a gov.uk
- Bristol City Council: annual CIL rate summary for 2026 bristol.gov.uk
- Bath and North East Somerset Council: annual CIL rates summary bathnes.gov.uk
- South Gloucestershire Council: CIL charging schedule southglos.gov.uk
- South Gloucestershire Council: Community Infrastructure Levy southglos.gov.uk
- North Somerset Council: CIL indexation guidance notice 2026 n-somerset.gov.uk
- North Somerset Council: CIL charging schedule 2017 to 2018 n-somerset.gov.uk
- Brighton and Hove City Council: Community Infrastructure Levy brighton-hove.gov.uk
- Mayor of London: Mayoral CIL annual CIL rate summary 2026 london.gov.uk
- Westminster City Council: annual CIL rate summary 2026 westminster.gov.uk
- Lambeth Council: annual CIL rate summary 2026 lambeth.gov.uk