RICS CIL Index 2027 Announcement
The RICS CIL Index (prepared by BCIS) for 2027 has been released.
The Building Cost Information Service (BCIS) has today, Monday 26 October 2026, released the Royal Institution of Chartered Surveyors (RICS) Community Infrastructure Levy (CIL) Indexation factor for 2027 – set at 412 – which takes effect from 01 January 2027.
Indexation is used to account for inflationary changes in industry costs, in this case construction, to align the CIL base rates set by the individual Local Planning Authority (LPA) to current market levels; and for projects within Greater London, Mayoral CIL also.
Previously, the CIL Regulations 2010 (as amended) had been using the BCIS All-in Tender Price Index (TPI), a common method for cost planning in the construction industry. However, with the 2019 amendments to the CIL Regulations, the CIL Index was set up to fix the indexation for the following year, as the TPI’s active database would fluctuate to account for a more precise position with the introduction of new project information – usually until around 12-18 months until it was fixed.
The CIL Index is published on the same base as the BCIS TPI – still used for dates preceding the introduction of the CIL Index – and is calculated by reference to the average of the BCIS TPI over the four quarters prior to the fourth quarter each year.
Todd Arnison, Senior Property Tax Surveyor and part of E³ Consulting’s CIL team says “The index initially declined in its early years of operation, from 2020 – owing to the economic impact caused by the Covid pandemic. However, since then the affects of wider global inflation have taken hold with the CIL Index rising to 400 in 2026 and now 412 in 2027 – this equates to a 3.0% year-on-year rise and nearly 24% since its inception in 2021. This means that new planning permissions granted from 01 January 2027 will see higher CIL liabilities, subject to LPA adoption and respective rates for planning use. We suspect that most planning permissions applied for from now until the end of the year will be subject to the higher CIL index rate, owing to planning permissions being granted outside of the usual 8-12 week timeline.”
Please do get into contact with the E³ Consulting team to understand what this change in the CIL Index for 2027 could mean for you and your new projects. We regularly review and challenge CIL liabilities on behalf of our clients, including formulating mitigation strategies.
We are happy to set out how we may be able to assist through our free HEALTHCHECK on [email protected] or 0345 230 6450.