Section 106 of the Town and Country Planning Act 1990 allows local authorities to require developers to provide contributions related to a development through legal agreements. Recent changes to policy have raised thresholds for when such contributions can be required from certain small sites. Looking ahead, reforms are planned to speed up the section 106 process through faster negotiations, improved transparency and revised guidance.

1. 1
Section 106:
What they are and where we are
DARREN WILDING
DCLG

2. S106 - Legislation
Section 106 of the Town and Country Planning Act 1990
•restricts the development or use of the land in any specified way;
•requires specified operations or activities to be carried out in, on, under or over
the land;
•requires the land to be used in any specified way;
•requires a sum or sums of money to be paid to the authority on a specified
date or dates or periodically
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3. S106 – The Three Tests
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National Planning Policy Framework
Policy Tests (also in Reg 122 of the CIL Regulations)
A section 106 must be:
• necessary to make the development acceptable in planning
terms;
• directly related to the development; and
• fairly and reasonably related in scale and kind to the
development.
Should only be used where a condition is not appropriate.

4. S106 - Guidance
• Planning Obligations guidance published as part of new Government online
planning practice guidance In March
• Updated 28 November following small sites threshold Ministerial
announcement
• Stand-alone guidance on Review and Appeal Process (affordable housing
renegotiation)
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5. S106 - Planning Practice
Guidance (planning
obligations)
Reinforces key messages:
• Obligations – should meet the 3 tests
• Local authorities should ensure that combined total impact of planning
obligations does not threaten the viability of the sites and scale of
development
• Obligations should be fully justified – needed to make unacceptable
development acceptable in planning terms
• Applicants should submit evidence on scheme viability – where
appropriate
• Agreements should normally include clauses stating when and how the
funds will be used by, allowing for their return, where they are not
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6. Growth and Infrastructure Act 2013
Section 106 BA
•Allows applications to be made to modify the affordable housing requirements
of any Section 106 agreement regardless of when it was signed.
•Based on economic viability.
Section 106 BC
•Applicants can appeal to the Planning Inspectorate where a council refuses or
fails to determine such applications.
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S106 – BA and BC
• 31 appeals to date
• 17 decided – 11 allowed; 6 dismissed
• 3 withdrawn; 1 invalid
• 10 being processed

7. S106 – Changes to
Policy (1)
• A Written Ministerial Statement on 28 November amended the NPPF
• Planning Obligations guidance amended same day to implement policy
change
• Changes (does not apply to Rural Exception Sites):
S106 affordable housing and tariff-style contributions should not be sought from
sites of 10 units or less and 1,000 square metres or less
Lower threshold of 5 units or less (but requirements on 6-10 unit sites) for
designated rural areas
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8. S106 – Changes to
Policy (2)
• S106 affordable housing and tariff-style contributions should not be sought
from extensions and residential annexes
• Financial credit for buildings brought back into lawful use or demolished, if
building not ‘abandoned’
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9. S106 – What’s Next
(1)
• Pooling restrictions on Section 106 apply from April 2015
• a council will not be able to pool more than five separate obligations in
respect of either a particular item of infrastructure (such as a specific
school) or a type of infrastructure (such as schools generally).
• this will apply regardless of whether a council has adopted the Community
Infrastructure Levy
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10. S106 – What’s Next
(2)
• 2014 Autumn Statement
• Government announcement that measures will be taken forward to speed
up section 106, including:
• faster process for reaching agreement
• improving transparency
• revised guidance
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11. CIL
• CIL is the Governments preferred method for collecting develop
contributions from infrastructure
• 57 areas currently charging the levy
• At least a further 130 have made significant progress towards charging
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12. Number of adopted schedules
PROGRESS
CIL
57

13. CIL
WHERE?