£225 a square metre for central Croydon homes: the first developer levy there since 2013 has passed examination. Full Council votes on 21 October.

Developers building flats in central Croydon are set to pay the borough’s infrastructure levy for the first time since the charge was created. An independent examiner has approved a new Community Infrastructure Levy charging schedule, and councillors begin signing it off at a scrutiny meeting on Monday 15 September.

The Community Infrastructure Levy, or CIL, is a charge per square metre of new floorspace. Councils spend the money on the roads, schools, parks and community facilities that growth demands. Croydon’s current rates were set in April 2013 and have never been revised.

Under the 2013 schedule, housing in the Croydon Metropolitan Centre, the town centre zone, pays nothing at all. Housing everywhere else in the borough pays £120 a square metre. That town centre zero rate was set when the priority was attracting any development at all, and it has survived thirteen years of towers going up around East and West Croydon.

The new rates

The revised charging schedule charges housing at the same rate across the whole borough, town centre included:

  • £225 a square metre for housing schemes of ten or more homes
  • £300 a square metre for schemes of nine or fewer homes
  • £225 for student housing, charged for the first time
  • £204.89 for care homes and nursing homes, also charged for the first time
  • £204.89 for business and industrial floorspace in the town centre; outside it, business uses pay £50 and industrial and warehousing £35, both new charges
  • Nil for schools, publicly funded health facilities, places of worship, and community, sport and leisure buildings run by public bodies or not-for-profit organisations

Self build homes are not affected, the council says, and extensions under 100 square metres that do not create a new dwelling are exempt under the CIL regulations, as are charities (Croydon Council).

Bar chart comparing Croydon Community Infrastructure Levy rates per square metre in the 2013 schedule against the revised 2026 schedule: town centre homes rise from zero to 225 pounds, homes in the rest of the borough from 120 to 225 pounds, student housing from zero to 225 pounds and care homes from zero to 204.89 pounds
Graphic by Croydon Today, from the 2013 and revised CIL charging schedules.

What the examiner changed

The schedule went through a public consultation from 30 April to 11 June 2025, was submitted for independent examination on 28 November 2025, and had a hearing on 26 February 2026 (covering report).

Examiner Derek Stebbing’s report, dated 15 April 2026, concluded the schedule “provides an appropriate basis for the collection of the levy” and that the rates “would not threaten delivery” of the borough’s Local Plan. He required two changes, both of which the council has made:

  • the industrial and warehousing rate outside the town centre was cut from a proposed £50 to £35 a square metre
  • the nil rate for community, sport and leisure facilities run by public bodies or not-for-profit organisations was written into the schedule as its own category

Why the council wants more

The examiner’s report sets out the gap the levy is meant to help close. The council’s infrastructure funding statement, updated to a March 2026 baseline after the hearing, identifies over £133 million of infrastructure needed to support growth, with £78 million of identified or committed funding. That leaves a funding gap of more than £54 million.

A viability review commissioned in 2023 found rates could rise without significantly affecting development or housing delivery (Croydon Council).

“Regeneration must deliver for the people who already call Croydon home,” Executive Mayor Jason Perry said in the council’s announcement. “We welcome new homes, businesses and investment, but it is only fair that developers contribute towards the roads, public spaces and community facilities that growth requires.”

What it means for you

  • This is not a charge on homeowners. A loft conversion or extension under 100 square metres pays nothing unless it creates a separate dwelling. Self build homes are excluded.
  • Small developers pay the higher rate. A scheme of nine or fewer homes pays £300 a square metre against £225 for larger schemes, in every part of the borough.
  • The money is spent locally. The council says past CIL receipts have built or upgraded schools, upgraded highways and improved community facilities (Croydon Council), including the out-of-hours technology in Selsdon and Norbury libraries.
  • It is not in force yet. After the Streets and Environment Sub-Committee on 15 September, the schedule goes to Cabinet on 23 September and Full Council on 21 October. The date it takes effect will be set at adoption, and anything with planning permission before that date pays the old rates.
  • Croydon also collects the Mayor of London’s separate CIL on top; that charge is not part of this review.

The decision is listed as key decision 3025CAB, covering all wards. Papers for Monday’s meeting are on the council’s committee pages. If you are tracking a specific scheme, our Croydon planning applications guide covers how to find and comment on live applications, and our planning news page carries the borough’s biggest current cases.

Sources