Developer contributions
Section 106 Agreements
What are Section 106 agreements?
Section 106 (S106) Agreements are legal agreements between Local Authorities and developers which are linked to a planning permission. These are also known as developer contributions, planning benefits, community benefits or planning obligations. S106 legal agreements are associated with a particular development and as they are a legal charge on the land, they transfer automatically with any change in ownership.
Section 106 agreements are drawn up when it is considered that a development will have negative impacts on the local area that can't be mitigated by means of conditions attached to the planning permission. For example, a new residential development can place additional pressure on the social, physical and economic infrastructure which already exists in the surrounding area. Planning obligations aim to balance the extra pressure created by new development with improvements to the surrounding area to ensure that wherever possible a development makes a positive contribution to the local area and community.
What type of obligations can the Council ask for?
Planning obligations can deliver real benefits to the community living around the development site.
However, the use of planning obligations is strictly governed by the basic premise that planning permission may not be bought or sold. It is now unlawful for a planning obligation to be taken into account when determining a planning application for a development if the obligation does not meet all of the following tests:
- necessary to make the proposed development acceptable in planning terms;
- directly related to the proposed development;
- fairly and reasonably related in scale and kind to the proposed development
We currently collect developer contributions for the following purposes and services:
- Transport - Transport for Buckinghamshire
- Affordable Housing - Wycombe District Council (WDC) Homes and Housing
- Environmental Improvements - WDC Spatial Planning
- Education - Bucks County Council (BCC) Education
- Community Facilities - WDC Community Services and independent providers
- Indoor Sport and Leisure - WDC Community Services and independent providers
- Open Space - WDC Community Services; Homes and Housing; Town and Parish Councils
- Police - Thames Valley Police
- Libraries - BCC Culture and Learning
- Fire Safety - Bucks & Milton Keynes Fire Service
Developer Contributions Supplementary Planning Document (SPD) (Adopted April 2007 and updated 2011)
The SPD is a material consideration in the determination of all applications for planning permission. The SPD identifies the main requirements for infrastructure and facilities which may be required as a consequence of development in Wycombe district:
- the types and scale of development from which we will seek contributions and the general nature of what will be sought where such development generates a need for the infrastructure and facilities;
- general principles relating to the consideration of such matters as viability, maintenance, legal costs, and in the pooling of contributions;
- how we will use contributions from developers to provide infrastructure to support new developments
We adopted an updated version of the SPD in October 2011. Changes were made to reflect updated Government guidance, updated council evidence and to reflect our experience in dealing with Section 106 agreements since 2007.
Developer Contributions - A guide for developers
This document provides guidelines for developers on how the developer contributions system works. The guide is intended to be updated annually to reflect current costs, and new evidence of need, and to identify schemes and programmes on which developer contributions for community infrastructure will be spent. This document was also updated in October 2011.
Developer Contributions Spending Programmes
We normally receive a contribution on the commencement of a development (or for larger schemes at a specific point in the development process e.g. completion of 100th unit). Whilst the Developers Guide sets out why developer contributions may be justified and how they may used, it does not specify exactly what schemes will be progressed or when.
In order to specify which schemes will be progressed, the Services produce annual spending programmes. The programmes show which schemes will be undertaken in the next financial year (mainly based on funds already secured) and give an outline of schemes for forthcoming years in an appropriate level of detail given that future years funding and the location of development is not certain. This process provides transparency in how contributions are to be spent and provides developers with clarity that contributions will be used in a way that directly benefits the new residents or employees in an area.
Our Cabinet agreed the release of over £1.2m developer contribution funds to be spent in 2010/11 and in February 2011 agreed the further release of £1.7m for 2011/12 to fund projects made necessary by development throughout the district. These spending programmes were the subject of extensive consultation with elected Members, Town and Parish Councils and County Council convened Local Area Forum meetings.
Examples of projects part funded from S106 Developer Contributions
Open Space and Recreation
- Kingsmead Recreation Ground and the Rye play areas were part-funded by S106 monies from the Wycombe Phase 1 development and the Big Lottery Fund.
- Improvements to the footpaths on the Rye and sign-posting was paid for with contributions from the Wycombe Marsh Phase 1 development.
- Monies from a development in Wycombe Road, Princes Risborough paid for the multi-use games area (MUGA) at Wades Park.
- Footpath works in Highfield Woods have improved accessibility to the woods with monies from the development at the Roperies.
- Chepping Wycombe Parish Council spent monies from the development at the Pines in Tylers Green to build new play facilities for young people at Ashley Park.
- Monies from the development of the Micklefield Inn pub site in High Wycombe paid for the multi-use games area (MUGA) at Ashill School.
Community facilities/meeting halls
- S106 funding from the development of the Lacey Green Methodist Church went towards the implementation of a pilot village shop following a comprehensive public consultation about community needs in the area.
- The Downley Middle School development provided monies to improve the facilities at the Downley Old School Community Centre.
- Monies from the former Cedars County First School have made a contribution towards the construction of the new pavilion at Hazlemere Recreation Ground being built by Hazlemere Parish Council and a new pavilion for Hazlemere Bowls Club.
- S106 funding from the Micklefield Inn development went towards the rebuilding of the new Micklefield library.
Transport
- Real Time Passenger Information at bus stops in High Wycombe and Marlow
- Financial support for the "Purple" High Wycombe Bus Routes
- Car Parking Variable Messaging System in High Wycombe
- Pedestrian footway improvements linking Frogmoor and Temple End
Environmental improvements
In December 2010 over 150 trees were planted across the district on publicly owned land including roadside verges. The Rye, Hughenden Park, Stokenchurch, Marlow, Wooburn, Cressex Road, London Road, Chairborough Road and the Pastures are just some of the areas benefiting from the planting scheme.
2011/12 Spending Programme
After a widespread public consultation that set out proposed projects for implementation in the 2011/12 financial year Members have agreed to the release of the funds in February Cabinet. These projects include pedestrian crossing at Bowerdean Road/Totteridge Road junction, surface crossing at Abbey Way, Real Time Passenger Information at bus stops across the District, tree planting along key corridors across the district; and allotments at Desborough Castle and in Bourne End
The 2011/12 Developer Contributions Spending Programmes are available to download below.
2012/13 Draft Spending Programmes
Internal and external services that receive developer contribution funding are developing spending programmes for 2012/13, with indicative programmes for following years. These set out projects and improvements necessary to address the impacts of development. The draft programmes are available to view via the documents to download section below. Wider public consultation on these draft programmes will be undertaken between November and January via the Local Area Fora before a report is made to February 6 Cabinet seeking approval to release the funds for implementation of the highlighted schemes next year.
You can download the draft spending programme at the bottom of the page.
Monitoring and Reporting
As part of our quarterly financial monitoring reporting to Cabinet, details of all new agreements signed, contributions received and spent are set out. The reports will be updated quarterly and are available to download below.
See the 2009 Annual Monitoring Report and Technical Appendices for details of the agreements signed, contributions received and spent during the 2008-09 financial year and the 2010 AMR for details of the agreements signed, contributions received and spent during the 2009-10 financial year.
The Developer Contributions Monitoring Reports for Quarter 1 and Quarter 2 of 2010/11 are both available to download below.
Community Infrastructure Levy
We are progressing work on introducing a Community Infrastructure Levy which will eventually replace s106 planning obligations as the means of securing contributions to fund wider infrastructure made necessary by new development. For more details please see our Community Infrastructure Levy page.
Legal and monitoring fees
Government guidance advises Local Authorities to carefully monitor all legal agreements in an open and transparent manner. Our Planning Service is committed to providing a high quality and efficient service to applicants seeking planning permission, and also to the local community affected by any such permission.
As is standard practise, we charge our costs incurred in respect of the legal and administrative work involved in the negotiation, preparation, execution and completion of the said agreement. Our costs are payable whether or not the matter is eventually completed.
The hourly rate we charge for this work is £150. At present no VAT is payable. The costs vary significantly but experience has shown that they are rarely less than £1500. In the case of more complex agreements sums in the region of £3-5000 are usual and in the case of major agreements it is impossible to put a figure on anticipated costs.
The monitoring fee is collected for the monitoring of the section 106 agreement to ensure that once the agreement has been completed, the developer has complied with the obligations contained within the agreement.
In order to track the progress of developer contributions a new database has been developed in-house. This tracks each site from planning permission to completion of the planning obligation and is used by all contributing departments to monitor the progress of each development. In November 2009 a Developer Contributions Officer was appointed by us to oversee the Council's policies, collection, monitoring and spending of developer contributions.
Legal and monitoring fees become payable on the completion of the section 106 agreement and prior to issuing of the planning permission.
Unilateral Undertaking
Where the total of the Contributions, excluding any fees or monitoring costs, is less than £20,000 the developer may proceed by way of the standard unilateral undertaking. This is available to download below. In entering into a unilateral undertaking, a developer must comply with the procedural notes, which are also available below. This includes providing title details and the supervision fee up-front with the draft obligation, which must follow the standard format. Departures from these standard drafts and procedures will result in additional costs.