Abstract
Section 106 (S106) of the English 1990 Town and Country Planning Act provides local planning authorities with powers to require developers to contribute towards affordable housing provision. Over the last two decades, the success of S106, which seeks to extract some of the development value created by planning consent, has been predicated on rising land values and market demand, thus enabling developers to agree and fulfill their planning obligations. The purpose of this article is to explore how negotiations between local authorities and developers with regard to meeting S106 have altered during the economic downturn in England. Drawing on recent empirical research, and through the use of case studies, the article highlights the ways in which S106 agreements have been renegotiated at the site level, with the discretionary nature of the planning system allowing compromises to be made. Despite S106 being tied to market activity, with developer contributions being reduced in a downturn, it remains an important policy tool in securing affordable housing and achieving inclusionary housing goals within England to date.
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Notes
The purchase price is usually assessed as a percentage of the market value of the land with planning permission or it may be a fixed price. The option period i.e. from exchange of an option agreement and completion of an eventual sale, may be for a fixed period or extendable.
In England, under Section 78 of the Town and Country Planning Act 1990, an applicant can appeal against a LPA’s refusal of planning permission or the conditions attached to granting the permission to the Secretary of State for the Communities and Local Government.
The Community Infrastructure Levy (CIL) is a planning charge that came into force in April 2010, with the Regulations amended in April 2011. CIL allows LPAs to raise funds from developers undertaking new building projects in their area, in order to pay for a wide range of infrastructure needed as a result of the development. The regulations rule out the application of the levy for affordable housing provision (DCLG, 2011). To date, only a few LPAs have implemented CIL and the majority are drafting their charging procedures (Burgess and Monk, 2012).
Questionnaires were sent to 354 LPAs across England, and the response rate was 43% in the Crook et al (2010) study. Primary data were also gathered on the delivery of planning obligations in 24 case study LPAs and on four sites in each of those LPAs (ibid). For the Burgess and Monk (2012) study, the LPA sample size was 442 LPA as more than one contact was made, and the response rate was 13 % respectively.
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Morrison, N., Burgess, G. Inclusionary housing policy in England: the impact of the downturn on the delivery of affordable housing through Section 106. J Hous and the Built Environ 29, 423–438 (2014). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10901-013-9360-7
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s10901-013-9360-7