Section 106 planning obligations

Infrastructure funding statement, planning obligation monitoring and fees

The Infrastructure Funding Statement is an annual report. It provides a summary of all financial and non-financial developer contributions relating to Section 106 agreements within the borough.

The purpose of the statement is to provide an overview into how developer contributions are supporting new development and local infrastructure.

The council has been required since 2019 to produce an annual Infrastructure Funding Statement. This is set out in The Community Infrastructure Levy (Amendment) (England) (No.2) Regulations 2019.

You can download the relevant annual reports below:

How are planning obligations monitored?

Planning obligations are rigorously monitored by the council's Compliance and Monitoring Officer. Once a planning obligation is secured, it is recorded in a database in order to facilitate the monitoring process. We charge a legal fee for the preparation, checking and production of a Section 106 Agreement or Unilateral Undertaking together with securing a monitoring fee (from 1 October 2022) for each obligation contained within. These fees are included in the Section 106 Agreement or Undertaking, which also includes the triggers for payments.

It is vital that all parties understand their obligations, so that they know what is required of them and when. Should you have any questions relating to your obligations, you should contact the planning Compliance and Monitoring Officer.

If a breach of an obligation occurs, the relevant party will be given an opportunity to remedy the breach. Failing this, the Compliance and Monitoring Officer will review the breach with the Planning Enforcement / Planning Manager and Legal Services for advice, before any action. 

The council will work with the relevant party to avoid legal action, however if the relevant party do not co-operate then legal action will be sought.

The council's Section 106 Monitoring Fee Schedule (reviewed yearly) is as follows:

Development type and monitoring fees for Section 106 Agreements and Unilateral Undertakings

Fee schedule:

  • One to 10 dwellings or less than 1,000 square metres gross floor space: £349 per obligation
  • 11 to 50 or 1,000 to 3,000 square metres gross floorspace: £419 per obligation
  • 51 to 150 dwellings or over 3,000 to 5,000 square metres gross floorspace: £489 per obligation
  • 151 to 250 dwellings or over 5,000 to 10,000 square metres gross floorspace: £558 per obligation
  • 251+ dwellings or over 10,000 square metres gross floorspace
    • £628 per obligation
  • Significant sites of 350 dwellings or more or 15,000 square metres gross floorspace
    • Bespoke fee set on a case by case basis
  • Site inspection fee
    • £219 per visit
  • Approval of details/documents
    • £327 per document
  • Deed of Variation
    • £649 per S106 topic

How are planning obligations enforced?

The council can enforce planning obligations in two ways:

  • Through the courts, by application for an injunction
  • By carrying out any operations required in the planning obligation and recovering the cost from the person(s) against whom the obligation is enforceable

Land charges

Planning obligations are registered as local land charges and will be revealed in any local land charges search until they have been discharged, by way of a formal application to the council. The local land charges entry may then be removed from the register. Consequently, if land is subject to a planning obligation which has not been (or is not being) complied with, it may become difficult to dispose of the land, given that obligations pass to successors in title.

Last updated: 20/11/2023 17:43