Mandatory charitable relief

Certain types of charitable development are entitled to mandatory relief from the Community Infrastructure Levy (CIL). This note details those types of development and provides information about the process for claiming relief.

The council does not offer discretionary charitable relief for investment activities or other charitable relief.

Charitable development entitled to mandatory relief

To be eligible for mandatory relief a claimant must:

  1. Be a charitable institution.
  2. Own a material interest in the land which is:
    • going to be used ‘wholly or mainly for charitable purposes’ and be occupied by, or under the control of a charitable institution
    • not own the material interest jointly with a person who is not a charitable institution and that any exemption must not constitute state aid. 

Types of charities that may benefit from relief

There are three main groups of charities which may benefit from relief:

  1. Registered charities: charities which are registered with the Charity Commission.
  2. Exempt charities: charities which cannot register under the Charities Act 2011 and are not subject to the Charity Commission’s supervisory powers. They are listed in Schedule 3 to the Charities Act 2011 and include some educational institutions, and most universities and national museums.
  3. Excepted charities: charities excepted from the need to register but which are still supervised by the Charity Commission.
  4. A body which has a Her Majesty’s Revenue and Customs charity reference number will usually meet this requirement.
  5. Academy and Free School Trusts which are not yet exempt charities, but which are charitable institutions as defined in regulation 41, are also exempt from the levy.

Other bodies that may be eligible for relief

Other bodies may be eligible for relief where they are established for charitable purposes only. A body which has a Her Majesty’s Revenue and Customs charity reference number will usually meet this requirement.

Charging and collecting authorities must treat EU charities in the same way as UK charities for the purposes of charitable relief or be in breach of European law. The Regulations do not preclude non-UK charities from the definition so any decision on the eligibility of a non-UK charity must be made on the merit of the charitable purpose.

Charitable relief may also apply to trusts or unit trusts whose only beneficiaries or unit holders are charities. The most usual arrangements of this type are collective investment schemes – for example, unit trusts and common investment funds. The Claim form requires a claimant to indicate whether it qualifies for relief in this context – in particular, whether all beneficiaries or unit holders are charities – and supply detail on the type of organisation that it is. It is then for the collecting authority to determine whether the claimant qualifies for the relief.

Where a development is owned jointly by a charitable institution and a private institution relief will be given to the proportion owned by the charity.

Relief is not limited to only one charitable institution, where relief conditions are met every charitable institution owning a material interest in the relevant land can benefit from relief for their portion of the charge.

Further assistance

Please refer to the Charity Commission Guidance.

 

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