Although a local authority is able to charge Community Infrastructure Levy (CIL) there is no requirement that it should do so. It is therefore possible that CIL will never be imposed in some local authority areas, or at least not for some time.

However, in the current climate of economic austerity and in light of the restrictions on the use of planning gain agreements (often called Section 106 Agreements) after April 2015, many local authorities will no doubt look to introduce CIL. As at August 2015, just under 100 local authorities (including London Boroughs and the Mayor of London) were charging CIL, although many were also going through the preparatory steps.