Thresholds for S106 Agreements?

Planning Advisory Service (PAS)

Grŵp agored | Wedi dechrau - Gorffenaf 2012 | Gweithgaredd diwethaf - May

Former Member, Addaswyd 14 Years yn ôl.

Thresholds for S106 Agreements?

Hi there, I am currently embarking on a development contributions SPD and there's been a bit of a debate about the threshold to use. There has been talk that developments of 1+ dwellings should contribute to things such as infrastructure, open space, affordable housing ect, and the other side is that this isn't viable as more money gets spent in the negotiations than the final figure. The arguement for the 1+ dwelling comes from a cumulative impact where in one year we had over 300 single dwelling apps which obviously would make an impact on local infrastructure but have not needed to contribute. I would be interested to find out if any other LPA's have set their thresholds at 1 dwelling and whether this has been challenged and upheld at upeal (I have found one in Surrey where a planning contribution for infrastructure for an application to convert a semi-detached into 6 flats was thrown out as the inspector struggled to see how the contribution to infrastructure made the development acceptable) Any examples or thoughts are appreciated. Regards, John

Former Member, Addaswyd 14 Years yn ôl.

Re: Thresholds for S106 Agreements?

Hi John, We have a two policies, the first of which has a threshold of 1+ development which requires provision of 3 trees on site or a payment in lieu for the LPA to planting 3 street trees and a threshold of 5+ for a greenspace contribution, which is charged per unit. Currently, £1684.00 which is ploughed in to nearest greenspace to the development. I have been managing this since 2004 and we have not lost a challenge and to be honest there hasn't been many challenges. We have a recently improved SPD which expands the requierment to indust and comm sites. Happy to talk about it if you like. Mandy

Former Member, Addaswyd 14 Years yn ôl.

Re: Thresholds for S106 Agreements?

Hi John, At Wycombe our threshold is 4+ dwellings for most of the contributions with affordable housing being larger threshold depending on location. I wasn't around when the SPD was completed but I believe the rationale for the 4 dwelling threshold was trying to balance the contributions system and the imposition of disproportionate costs in dealing with small developments. I'd advise taking a look at Colchester's approach - I believe with developments of below 10 the applicant fills in the Agreement on line and this goes directly to their legal team to sign off - this is before the application is submitted. Seems to be a good way of cutting costs but making sure all developments contribute to additional infrastructure pressure.