Section 106 Agreements (s106) are legal agreements under the Town and Country Planning Act 1990 (as amended) negotiated between Local Planning Authorities and developers, which are also known as planning obligations. S106 agreements is required in order to make a development acceptable in planning terms that is not otherwise acceptable. They are focused on site specific mitigation of the impact of the development.
For example a planning application for a residential development say for 200 houses will have an impact on the local infrastructure of that area. A section 106 agreement will be required to secure relevant infrastructure and improvements for that area to ensure that the new development makes a positive contribution to that local area and mitigates any impact that development might have.
What does a Section 106 Agreement do
Section 106 agreement may:
- Restrict the development or use of land in some way
- Require operations or activities to be carried out in, on under or over land
- Require land to be sued in a particular way
- Require payment of financial sums to be made to local planning authority
What a Section 106 Agreement is likely to cover
What a section 106 agreement covers will vary and will depend on the proposed development and needs of the Borough or the District. The most common obligations that a section 106 will contain are as follows:
- Affordable Housing
- Public Open Space
- Educationk
- Financial contributions
- Highways
- Travel Plans
- Town Centre Improvements
Some major developments will require a bespoke section 106 agreement due to the nature and location of the development.
Preparation of a Section 106 Agreement
The standard practice is that the local planning authorities will produce the first draft of the section 106 agreement during the consideration of the planning application. The terms of the section 106 agreement is then negotiated and agreed with the developer’s solicitor, who is responsible for the legal costs of the local authorities’ solicitor in dealing with the section 106 agreement.
Sabah is a planning lawyer with over 10 years experience in advising on complex section 106 agreements for medium to large mixed scale developments. If you’d like to have a section 106 agreement reviewed then Sabah is happy to answers any queries by email or telephone and can do so outside of office hours if you prefer. Please call 01494 419191 or complete the form below to get in touch with Sabah.
Sabah Siddiq
Consultant Solicitor – Planning and Parliamentary Team