ANYONE planning to build a new house in the Cherwell district will have to dig deep and pay new charges towards community facilities.

Developments of ten or more homes have been liable for infrastructure contributions – known as section 106 cash – for many years.

But now smaller developments could be charged thousands as a contribution to local infrastructure, such as roads and education.

These will be negotiated on a case-by- case basis.

Architects and agents were told of the changes in a letter dated August 3, despite Cherwell District Council’s executive agreeing the new fee in May.

Architect Andrew Banks said his firm had lobbied the council for a breakdown of fees.

But the council said there was no set amount and each development’s contribution would be dependent on the viability of the project.

Mr Banks, who runs Banks Design, in Chesterton, near Bicester, said he had been left in the dark over how much the fees would be.

He said: “Cherwell suddenly implemented them and we had no idea they were coming until we got this letter.

“There has been no consultation and we have no real idea of exactly what’s going to happen.”

He said anyone who was preparing to submit a planning application now could be faced with a bill of thousands of pounds they weren’t expecting.

The council said it would consult on the new charges this autumn.

It said the fee was not a charge, but an “obligation” which the planners negotiated with each applicant. There was no list of fees and the viability of the development was taken into account.

Oxford City, Vale of the White Horse and South Oxfordshire and West Oxfordshire district councils do not currently ask for contributions, but are looking at introducing it as part of a national scheme called the Community Infrastructure Levy, which comes into force from 2014.

That is an optional scheme. But it was deemed necessary as in current market conditions only smaller developments were going ahead and these were not subject to contributions to local services.

Cherwell’s lead member for planning Michael Gibbard, said: “The new Planning Obligation is designed to help assess planning application impacts on infrastructure and to achieve appropriate contributions towards meeting those needs where they can reasonably be funded by a developer. We welcome comments on the updated guidance.”

Architectural consultant Jeremy Dunn, of Stable Architecture, Banbury, said one of his clients had already been told he would have to pay an extra £10,000 for a conversion of offices to three one-bedroom flats.

He said: “My client has got to agree to it and he has got to go to a solicitor to write a document and that’s an extra cost.

“I can see why they have done it, but it’s extremely frustrating.”