Planning Obligations

Planning obligations are legal obligations entered into to mitigate the impacts of a development proposal.

This can be via a planning agreement entered into under section 106 of the Town and Country Planning Act 1990 by a person with an interest in the land and the local planning authority; or via a unilateral undertaking entered into by a person with an interest in the land without the local planning authority.

Planning obligations run with the land, are legally binding and enforceable. A unilateral undertaking cannot bind the local planning authority because they are not party to it.

Planning obligations are also commonly referred to as ‘section 106’, ‘s106’, as well as ‘developer contributions’ when considered alongside highways contributions and the Community Infrastructure Levy.

Planning obligations assist in mitigating the impact of unacceptable development to make it acceptable in planning terms. Planning obligations may only constitute a reason for granting planning permission if they meet the tests that they are necessary to make the development acceptable in planning terms. They must be:

• 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.

Each S106 agreement will be attached to a specific planning permission and can be searched here. 

Examples of obligations that you would commonly see included in the S106 agreements:

• Affordable housing
• Open spaces and Green Areas
• Highways
• Education
• Health
• Fire hydrants
• Travel Plans
• High Street improvements

Planning Obligations Supplementary Planning Document (June 2012)

Important: Planning obligations are a land charge and on new developments the council will not act against individual house owners for unmet planning obligations.

Often planning obligations will become due as soon as the development commences. However, there can also be several financial and non-financial obligations that are triggered by other development stages. To ensure that all S106 obligations are complied with, developers should follow these steps:

• Notify South Kesteven District Council that you will be implementing a planning permission with a S106 agreement and your date of intended commencement.

• An Officer will contact you to confirm details of amounts calculated and detail the various submissions you are due to make prior to commencement prior to issuing a payment request.

• Refer to the Section 106 agreement for details on what submissions and payments are due at which trigger points. All submissions can be made to planning@southkesteven.gov.uk

• Payment is due within 30 days from when the payment notice is sent.

• Upon approval of submissions and receipt of payment(s) acknowledgement of payment will be sent. Please keep this as a record.

• Developers are responsible for these contributions and are responsible to inform the council when the trigger points are due. The council will track each development and will make sure that the developers are complying when payment becomes due.

The land itself, rather than the person or organisation that develops the land, is bound by the S106 agreements. The S106 is a legal charge on the land, so the obligations transfer automatically with any change in ownership of land.

Applicants are responsible for making the payments on time, preferably by BACS and with the correct reference using the planning application number and site address per agreement.

A trigger will be stated on the agreement as to when payments are required to be paid or when a deliverable will be due, such as Affordable housing or an open space. In many cases, a trigger will be when building or occupation hits a certain point.

All financial contributions paid by developers to the council will be passed on to the relevant parties to conform to the S106 agreement, once the Council is certain the reason for the spend of money meets the criteria.

The amount of money collected each year, through the charge, will be reported in each Council’s Infrastructure Funding Statement (IFS) published on the website and can be found here. 

Please note, any late payments will be subject to interest or indexation as defined in the specific legal agreement. To avoid penalty, please ensure you email South Kesteven District Council within a at least 14 days prior to commencement.

Please contact planning@southkesteven.gov.uk for formal confirmation that planning obligations relating to a specific S106 agreement have been complied with. There is currently a fee of £81 for this service. 

Payment Form 

Important: Payments can be subject to indexation to adjust for inflation changes between when the planning permission is granted and when the development commences. The specific details, if applicable, for this can be found within the legal agreement.

The current Section 106 monitoring fees charged by South Kesteven District Council are set out below. 

The monitoring fee for each signed S106 agreement will be payable upon commencement of the development or otherwise defined by the terms of the agreement.  

There will be some flexibility for major applications with multiple obligations, which could allow a single monitoring fee to be negotiated and agreed. The same fee will apply for any Deed of Variation or Supplemental Agreement, which introduces new trigger points. The monitoring fee will be reviewed on an annual basis and updated as required.

Copies of S106 Agreements can be downloaded direct from the South Kesteven District Council Website, under the Planning (Development Management) page. This is a quicker and easier process if you have the planning permission reference number to hand.

If you have any further questions or would like to find out if any of the obligations in a S106 Agreements have been complied with or remain outstanding, please contact the planning@southkesteven.gov.uk team. Please include your name, the planning permission reference number to which your S106 relates and the details of your enquiry.

Planning Obligations Supplementary Planning Document 

Infrastructure Funding Statements 

Section 106A of the Town and Country Planning Act 1990 makes provision for existing planning obligations to be modified or discharged by agreement between the authority and the person or persons by whom the obligation is enforceable. 

Where modifications to planning permissions are made under section 73 of the Town and Country Planning Act 1990, the result is a new standalone planning permission which must be tied to the 'original' section 106 agreement by way of a supplemental agreement. Otherwise, unless the original agreement is drafted as to capture future variations/amendments to the scheme, the applicant would be able to implement its section 73 consent free from any section 106 obligations.

When a S106 obligation has monetary or infrastructure contributions, once these have been fulfilled, they will be deemed as discharged. Confirmation per S106 as to which obligations have been discharged can be confirmed on application.

Online Application

Online Payment 

Important: Please note there is a fee of £162 per application and each application can only cover one planning permission, plus any associated subsequent s73 permissions)

In all instances funding will only be directed towards projects which meet the specific requirements for spending contained within the Section 106 agreement.

Who can apply?

Not-for-profit organisations whose activities benefit the local community.

• Local Authority, such as a Parish Council or South Kesteven District Council
• Registered charitable organisations. 
• Unincorporated not for profit organisations 

Eligible Projects

S106 funding can only be used against capital projects and not towards on-going revenue costs of a project.

Most Section 106 agreements will state a provision or location for the obligation to be spent on. The application will need to meet the criteria set out in the S106 involved.

How to apply

• Contact South Kesteven District Council to check funds are available and to check the project is viable.
• Complete and return the below S106 application form with all supporting documentation requested to planning@southkesteven.gov.uk 

S106 Application Form for Funding

For further information, please contact:

Planning support via telephone 01476 406080 or

email planning@southkesteven.gov.uk