Agenda item
Annual S106 Monitoring Report
Report of the Strategic Director (Growth and Development).
The report provides an update to the Committee on the Council’s Section 106 (s106) activity for 2023/24 and to date.
Minutes:
The committee considered a report of the Strategic Director (Growth and Development) which provided an update on the Council’s Section 106 (s106) activity for 2023/24 and to date.
Key points and themes within the report included:
- s106 agreements were legally binding and entered between a local planning authority and the owners and developers of land on which planning permission was granted;
- 31 s106 agreements were signed in 2023/24, with a further 5 signed to date;
- Further detail on individual s106 agreements broken down by ward;
- £5.7m was received in s106 contributions in 2023/24 with £1.7m spent;
- £2.1m was received in affordable housing contributions in 2023/4, which was transferred into the Housing Affordability Fund (HAF);
- Benchmarks against other Core Cities; and
- An update on the emerging Local Plan.
Some of the key points and queries that arose from the committee’s discussion included:
- Whether an increase in planning applications as a result of the change in government, and would increases capacity be required if so;
- If the number of s106 agreements include affordable housing obligations subject to clawback or viability appraisal;
- The gap between s106 income and spend;
- Why s106 would be used for waste management provisions;
- What was meant by ‘reserved’ and ‘trigger not met’;
- Noting a significant increase in s106 contributions in 2023/24, and querying the reasons behind this and if it was likely to continue;
- How the new requirement for a 10% increase in biodiversity on a development site would impact Council’s ability to secure contributions for other priorities such as affordable housing;
- If there were any time constraints on spending s106 contributions; and
- Whether unspent money could be used to build social housing.
The Executive Member for Housing and Development introduced the report and highlighted that s106 agreements formed part of the planning process to ensure investment in communities, such as affordable housing; tree planting; or sport and leisure provision. He highlighted that 92% of affordable housing was delivered through the imposition of planning conditions, as opposed to the s106 process, and that the Planning and Infrastructure Bill had been tabled by the new government. This would include changes to the s106 process, and the Council was beginning to look into the impact of this.
In response to queries, the Executive Member for Housing and Development welcomed the government’s commitment to delivering more affordable housing. He stated that the Council shared this aim and was preparing to deliver more affordable housing with stakeholders and partners. He commented that the Council would welcome more funding to increase the number of planning officers available to process applications. The Strategic Director (Growth and Development) also highlighted the need for additional capacity in statutory organisations such as the Environment Agency and the Council was lobbying the government to take this into consideration.
The Assistant Director of Planning and Building Control explained that where an s106 obligation was marked as pending, this meant that the agreement was awaiting signature and he hoped delays in signing agreements would be addressed by the Planning and Infrastructure Bill.
The Assistant Director of Planning and Building Control also advised members of an online link which allowed them to access all s106 agreements related to their ward and he agreed to share this following the meeting.
In response to a question regarding the gap between income and spend, members were informed that this was because income was retained in the Planning service’s budget until the relevant department for the work e.g. Highways identified what the money would be spent on and undertook the work. It was stated that s106 monies for affordable housing were transferred immediately to the Housing Affordability Fund (HAF).
The Assistant Director of Planning and Building Control stated that use of s106 money for waste management provision differed between individual agreements and he agreed to clarify this, as well as what agreements were ‘reserved’, following the meeting. He suggested that these agreements could refer to significant strategic developments or for off-site provision.
It was clarified that ‘trigger not met’ referred to where it had been agreed to provide infrastructure, such as public open space, once a certain number of dwellings were occupied but not yet achieved.
In regard to a query on the Biodiversity Net Gain requirement, the Assistant Director of Planning and Building Control stated that this was a statutory requirement and meant that a 10% biodiversity uplift had to be provided before any other s106 requirements, which would have an impact on the delivery of other priorities.
The Assistant Director of Planning and Building Control stated that development tended to slow around the time of a General Election, but the Council continued to progress with many strategic developments, and he expected s106 contributions to remain high. The Executive Member for Housing and Development noted that the amount of s106 money received could be volatile depending on types of development and that the downturn caused by the Covid-19 pandemic had taken some time to recover. He stated that this was increasing but it was difficult to forecast future income and investment.
It was clarified that developers typically requested a 5-year deadline for s106 contributions to be spent and officers were not currently concerned by this or by the prospect of having to refund contributions.
The Executive Member for Housing and Development reiterated that s106 contributions for affordable housing were transferred directly to the Housing Affordability Fund which was used for social housing and Manchester Living Rent, which he stated was capped at the Local Housing Allowance rate. He stated the future reports could include detail on the off-site contributions received from major developers and how this was spent and delivered with partners, such as Ancoats Distillery.
Decision:
- To note the report.
- To request that officers share the online link to individual ward S106 Obligations with all councillors.
Supporting documents:
-
Annual S106 Monitoring Report, item 50.
PDF 316 KB
-
Appendix 1 for Annual S106 Monitoring Report, item 50.
PDF 378 KB