Section 106 of the Town and Country Planning Act 1990 allows a local planning authority to enter into a legally binding agreement with a land developer.
They are linked to planning permission and can also be called planning obligations, planning gain, community benefits or planning benefits.
Usually, these agreements are associated with developments that may put pressure on the local community or on local infrastructure like roads or schools. They are made when the impact of a development cannot be reduced by imposing planning conditions.
The agreement means that the developer has an obligation to provide or contribute to a project that will benefit both new and existing communities, and these include:
- Highway improvements
- Planting new trees or upgrading a local open space
- Providing affordable housing
- Contributing to school places
- Contributing to public art projects
Since 2008, the London Thames Gateway Development Corporation has applied a £6000 per dwelling tariff to large housing developments in the southern part of the borough (London Riverside). On the 1 April 2011, the London Thames Gateway Development Corporation’s powers returned to the London Borough of Barking and Dagenham and consequently the Council will now be applying the tariff to qualifying developments across the whole borough. This tariff will be superseded by the borough’s Community Infrastructure Levy when the charging schedule is adopted. This is likely to be in early 2013.