Section 278 is the Highways Act agreement under which a developer pays the highway authority to carry out works on the public highway that a development needs, a new access, a right-turn lane, a footway, a crossing, and it is the first of the site costs an offer on a plot forgets: the visibility splay a new access must show, the community infrastructure levy the authority charges on new floorspace, and the minimum space standards the dwellings must meet all change the appraisal before the land value is read. What is CIL is a fixed charge per square metre set by the authority's charging schedule, payable on commencement with exemptions for self-build and reliefs the developer has to claim before starting; visibility splays are the sight lines from a new access along the road, read from the speed of the road and the manual the highway authority uses, and a plot that cannot show them has no access; minimum space standards set the gross internal floor area a dwelling of a given size must reach where the authority has adopted them, and they decide how many units a building really makes. This page sets the four out as the developer reads them at the viewing.
The section 278 agreement and the access
Where a scheme needs works on the adopted highway the developer enters a section 278 agreement with the highway authority, pays its costs and a bond, and the works are done to its specification; the agreement is negotiated after permission but priced before the offer, because a plot whose access needs a right-turn lane on a main road carries a cost the site may not bear. The visibility splay is read first: from the access, a set distance back along the road, the line to a point on the road edge must be clear of obstruction on land the developer controls or the highway, and a splay across a neighbour's hedge is a splay the scheme does not have. The manual cited below sets out the geometry.
What CIL charges, and the reliefs that must be claimed first
The community infrastructure levy is charged on the net new floorspace of a chargeable development at the rate per square metre in the authority's charging schedule for the use and the zone, indexed, payable on commencement or by instalments where the authority allows; existing floorspace in lawful use is deducted, and self-build homes, residential annexes and extensions have exemptions that must be claimed and granted before commencement or they are lost. A developer prices the levy on the floorspace before the offer, and a plot in a high-rate zone can carry a charge that decides the scheme; the guidance cited below sets out the procedure.
The space standard, the unit count and what the file keeps
Where the authority has adopted the nationally described space standard, each dwelling must reach the gross internal floor area for its bedrooms and occupants, with minimum bedroom sizes and storage, and a barn or a house split into units that fall short has fewer units than the drawing shows. The class Q sheet on this site reads the floorspace per dwelling against the class's own cap; the space standard is the second cap the developer reads. Curtilo Pro keeps the section 278 estimate, the splay, the CIL rate and the space standard against the plot, so the appraisal is built on the costs rather than surprised by them.
Questions people ask about section 278
What is a section 278 agreement?
An agreement under the Highways Act by which the developer pays the highway authority to carry out works on the public highway a development needs, such as a new access or a footway. It is negotiated after permission and priced before the offer.
What is a visibility splay?
The clear sight line from a new access back along the road in each direction, read from the road's speed and the highway authority's manual. It must lie on land the developer controls or on the highway.
Is CIL payable on a class Q conversion?
Where the authority has a charging schedule, net new floorspace is chargeable whatever the route, but floorspace in lawful use for a period before is deducted and a converted barn often has little net new floorspace. The guidance cited below sets out the deduction and the reliefs.
Sources
- legislation.gov.uk, Highways Act 1980 section 278: agreements as to the execution of works by the highway authority at the developer's expense
- GOV.UK, Manual for Streets: the visibility splay, stopping sight distances and the access geometry a highway authority reads a new access against
- GOV.UK planning practice guidance, Community Infrastructure Levy: how the levy is charged on floorspace, the exemptions and the reliefs