Planning Obligations SPD 2020

4. OTHER ASPECTS OF PLANNING OBLIGATIONS

Tariffs or standard charges

4.1 The District Council has developed a series of standard charges in relation to aiding the funding of specified recreational provision and community facilities where these are needed to make development acceptable. This parallels the County Council's approach to securing contributions to educational and other facilities and not only aids pooling of contributions, by a number of developments, to an individual project but helps to create certainty for developers about the levels of contributions being sought.

Holding and Spending of Financial Contributions

4.2 Financial contributions will be placed in a fund controlled by the signatory responsible for the provision of that service or facility. The contribution will need to be spent on improvements to services or infrastructure as defined in the agreement which made the original development acceptable.

4.3 The relevant service is responsible for ensuring that the contribution is used in accordance with the terms of the agreement and for reporting on spending. If the facility is to be delivered by a Parish Council or other local organisation, then the Community Partnerships Service at the District Council will be responsible for liaison.

4.4 Any financial contributions are often required to be spent within a specified time as defined in the agreements. Contributions which are unspent beyond the ''spend by date'' should be returned, unless a variation to the agreement to allow a longer spend by date is agreed.

Trigger Points for Planning Obligations

4.5 The payment of obligations will be required when specific stages of a development are reached. These stages, often referred to as trigger points should be agreed in the S106 agreement and linked to the time and/or delivery of particular milestones e.g. commencement of development or first occupation.

4.6 Generally the first tranche for example will be required on commencement of development and can be up to 50% of the total amount of the contribution. The remaining tranche would be required at an agreed level of occupation, for example, 50% of the total number of dwellings occupied.

4.7 Late payment of financial obligations significantly beyond the stipulated trigger points will attract interest at 4% above the Bank of England base lending rate in force, at the time from the date that the payment falls due to the date of actual payment. The rate of interest will be specified in the legal agreement.

Maintenance of assets secured through planning obligations

4.8 It is important that infrastructure (physical) assets provided through planning obligations are delivered to the required standard and are subsequently maintained. A developer should ensure that there are adequate arrangements made to ensure appropriate maintenance and management of the asset in perpetuity and prevent it from becoming a future liability.

4.9 If contributions however towards maintenance are deemed appropriate, they will apply to a period between hand-over of the facility and when the asset would be expected to be maintained within a general maintenance budget of the subsequent owner. This is particularly important in relation to the adoption of open space.

4.10 Due to budgetary constraints on the local authority and its wish to be an enabler rather than direct provider, it should not be assumed such assets will be inherited by the local authority. Each case will be considered on its own individual merits.

Legal and Monitoring Fees

4.11 The District Council as a party to the S106 agreement or unilateral undertaking will seek its full legal costs associated with the negotiating, preparing, drafting, amending producing and sealing of S106 agreements/unilateral undertakings. It will include, where required, the costs of obtaining independent or specialised advice to validate aspects of the contributions.

4.12 CIL Regulations now allow for planning agreements to secure monitoring fees, particularly where the scale of development is complex and needs long term monitoring. The monitoring fee should reflect the time spent on monitoring each obligation, whether it is a financial contribution or an 'in kind' obligation. An hourly rate would be charged/based on the type of work and officers time, involved in the process of monitoring an agreement over the life time of a development.

4.13 Strategic Development Areas (SDAs) and/or major developments which involve substantial monitoring over a number of years will be subject to a monitoring fee which is commensurate with the hourly rate and the number of hours over the duration of the individual phases and/or the completion of the development.

4.14 Payments will generally be secured as shown in the requirements/triggers in each S106 agreement and the monitoring fee would be calculated on an hourly basis. The rate is currently set at £44.54 per hour (this is subject to being adjusted annually). It includes on-costs and an allowance for overheads.

Table 1: Typical number of hours of monitoring of each type planning obligation and size of residential development

4.15 The table below shows an example of the monitoring fee for a development of 250 dwellings, assuming all of the District Council obligations are required, under a Section 106 agreement. The overall monitoring fee from the hourly monitoring fee/s would amount to £3,696.82.

Bonds and Enforcement Action

4.16 The Council will request that a bond is obtained to mitigate the risk of defaults on the fulfilment of planning obligations (and payments in the case of commuted sums) based on the merits of each individual case.

4.17 Notwithstanding the opportunity that exists for obligations to be varied, the Council will seek to ensure that all obligations are fulfilled and may be prepared to accept staged payments if needed to ensure that the terms of the original agreement are met.

4.18 The Council will use its corporate debt recovery process where necessary and its enforcement powers to stop development where the necessary obligations have not been made or not been made on time or in accordance with agreed payment schedules or "trigger" points. For further information on the approach to planning obligations please contact: Planning Obligations Officer, Harborough District Council Tel: 01858 828282