Developer Contributions & Section 106 agreements

S106 Agreements are made under the planning acts to ensure new developments provide the required services, infrastructure and amenities to serve new and existing communities.

They are known as planning agreements or planning obligations. They are legally binding, connected to a planning permission and made between the council and developers/landowners.

What can they cover?

Normally an agreement can:

Restrict the development or the use of land
Require on site facilities - e.g. affordable housing; a new play area
Require off site facilities - e.g. improvements to the local highway network such as junction improvements, or off site landscaping
Require payments - e.g. towards the provision of sports, leisure and open space facilities by some one else or extra school places

The S106 Agreements - What They Can Cover page provides further information on the range of contributions that may apply.

Which type of agreement is best for you?

Unilateral Undertakings are presented to the council by the applicant setting out what he/she is prepared to do or contribute if planning permission is granted. These are best suited for straightforward issues such as the sport and open space contributions required for small housing developments
Bilateral Agreements are negotiated by the council, the applicant and anybody else with an interest in the land. The process can be lengthy and will involve lawyers on both sides. They are most appropriate for large developments and complicated issues

Legal tests

The council can only seek these sorts of items if they are:

Necessary to make the development acceptable in planning terms
Directly related to the development
Fairly and reasonably related in scale and kind to the development

How are contributions spent?

All local planning authorities are required by the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government to publish their developer contributions data on a regular basis and in an agreed format.

The developer contributions that will we report on include section 106 planning obligations that secure funding towards new development, or provide infrastructure as part of any new development.