A legal agreement between a Local Planning Authority and a developer used to secure planning permissions is known as a Section 106 Agreement. A Section 106 agreement is drafted when there is a development in the works that will greatly affect the local area. The agreement will cover the application site and once completed will be legally binding.

Preparing a Section 106 Agreement

The contents included in a Section 106 agreement are agreed upon through the consultation period of the planning application between the Local Planning Authority and the developer or other parties. 

What is a planning obligation? 

Planning obligations are legal duties needed to reduce any adverse effects of your proposed development in order to make it valid in planning terms.

Planning obligations can be:

– A restriction on the development or use of the application site

– A requirement to regularly pay money to the Local Planning Authority

– A requirement to use the application site in a particular way

– A requirement to do particular operations in, under or over land

Examples of a planning obligation could be requiring compensation to be paid towards education or sports facilities or requiring that the proposed development includes affordable housing. 

When is a planning obligation needed? 

Local Planning Authorities will need a planning obligation where the tests in the Regulation 122 of the Community Infrastructure Levy Regulations 2010 are met. The Regulation states that a planning obligation is required to make the development valid in planning terms. The planning obligation also needs to be directly concerning the proposed development and justly connected in scale to the proposed development.

How do I get a Section 106 Agreement? 

If your Local Planning Authority has granted planning permission before a Section 106 Agreement has been completed they will ask their solicitors to instruct their lawyers to put together the first draft for your solicitor to review. 

Following this, a Section 106 Agreement will be negotiated between you and the Local Planning Authority until its contents are agreed upon. After this, the Section 106 Agreement will be signed and finalised after you have paid the Local Planning Authority’s legal fees. 

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