Section 106 agreements

What is a section 106

Planning obligations under section 106 of the Town and Country Planning Act 1990 (as amended) is commonly known as a S106 agreement. These agreements are formal and binding legal agreements between landowners, developers, and local authorities. They are used to make proposed developments acceptable in planning terms when they would not otherwise be acceptable. They are focused on addressing the specific impacts directly related to a particular development. S106 agreements are often referred to as 'developer contributions' along with highway contributions and the Community Infrastructure Levy.

The purpose of planning obligations

Planning obligations are generally used to:

Secure affordable housing;
Specify the type of affordable housing to be provided, and where it is located;
Secure on-site infrastructure (such as playgrounds, open spaces, community centres, and so on);
Secure financial contributions to fund off-site infrastructure (such as highways network improvements, mitigation for the disturbance of special protected habitats and so on); and,
Secure other specific mitigation measures, such as nutrient neutrality or biodiversity net gain.

S106 agreements will set out the points at which any financial or non-financial obligations must be provided or paid.

In addition, s106 agreements may also require a piece of land to be used in a particular way or require particular operations to be carried out on the land. They may also restrict how a development or piece of land may be used.

Planning obligations subject to conditions

A planning obligation can be subject to conditions, it can specify restrictions definitely or indefinitely, and in terms of payments the timing of these can be specified in the obligation.

Planning obligation tests

In order to be included in a s106 agreement, a planning obligation must meet three tests set out in regulation 122 of the CIL regulations 2010 (as amended). The three tests are that the obligation is:

necessary to make the development acceptable in planning terms
directly related to the development; and
fairly and reasonably related in scale and kind to the development

If a S106 agreement is not complied with, it is enforceable against the person that entered into the obligation and any subsequent owner of the relevant land. A S106 agreement may be enforced by injunction.

In case of a breach of the obligation the authority can take direct action and recover expenses.

S106 Agreements and Community Infrastructure Levy (CIL)

The Community Infrastructure Levy (CIL) has not replaced section 106 agreements. However, the introduction of CIL has resulted in a tightening up of the S106 tests. S106 agreements are focused on mitigating the specific impacts of a new development, whereas CIL can be used to address the broader impacts of development.

Planning and affordable housing supplementary planning document (SPD)

Our adopted Planning Obligations and Affordable Housing SPD sets out Chichester District Council's approach to securing developer contributions. It assists prospective developers with identifying the likely infrastructure costs associated with the development of a particular site in our area. The SPD is an important material consideration in determining planning applications.

User Guide to Planning Obligations and Section 106 Agreements (Word doc, 74 KB)

Planning Obligations and Affordable Housing SPD (Word doc, 1 MB)

Calculate your open space requirements (Excel doc, 14 KB)

Recreational Disturbance of Birds in Special Protection Areas April 2023 (Word doc, 23 KB)

Section 106 and CIL protocol

Chichester District Council has a protocol which explains the S106 negotiation process and how contributions are managed, processed and monitored. It also explains the way the CIL is managed and monitored.

Section 106 and CIL Protocol (Word doc, 33 KB)

Existing S106 Agreements can be found online under the planning application reference using our public access system (opens new window). Copies of completed S106 agreements are available online along with the other application documentation.

Legal fees

The Government's Circular 05/2005 (Para B50) advises Local Authorities to carefully monitor all legal agreements. We charge a legal fee for the preparation, checking and production of S106 Agreements and Unilateral Undertakings.

S106 monitoring fees

The fees available are for financial year 2024/2025 and will be reviewed each year and updated (if required) on 1 April each year.

Fees apply from 1 April 2024.

Development type / size threshold	Fee
Single dwelling/annexe	£260
2-9 dwellings	£520
10-20 dwellings	£1,350
21-50 dwellings	£2,750
50+ dwellings	£8,100
Commercial	£1,350
Other non-residential	£1,350
Deed of Variation	£150
Unilateral undertakings given in connection with highways network contributions, the Chichester and Langstone Harbour and Pagham Harbour SPA's (local plan policy 50 and 51) and with the mitigation contribution paid on completion of the agreement (see Notes 1 and 2) The fee for these agreements reflects lower monitoring costs as the council does not have to diarise for receipt of the mitigation contribution and it covers the remaining recording, reconciling and reporting work undertaken. Owners choosing not to follow this option will be charged a monitoring fee based on the standard tariff for the development type/size threshold shown. This fee is payable for each unilateral Undertaking that is signed irrespective of whether a full contribution is paid, a top-up contribution, or no new contribution but the undertaking contains an obligation that monies paid on an earlier permission can be carried forward to an alternative or amended permission. The council has to record and report on each agreement that is given so the cost of the work involved is identical.	£150

Recreational disturbance, highways network payments

Make a recreational disturbance and/or highways network payment.

Contact us

For further information and advice email planningpolicy@chichester.gov.uk. Alternatively, you can phone us on 01243 785166.

This website uses cookies