Section 106 Monitoring and Drafting Charges
Planning obligations agreed under Section 106 of the Town &
Country Planning Act 1990 are a key means of securing
infrastructure for development proposals in the Borough. They are
regularly used by all Local Planning Authorities to secure a
financial contribution towards facilities such as public open space
and off-site transport improvements. Planning obligations are also
used where a restriction or benefit cannot be achieved by means of
planning conditions and an example of this is securing the
provision of affordable housing.
The preparation and monitoring of Section 106 planning
obligations is a time-consuming and complex process, taking up a
significant amount of officer time. It is essential that the system
operates effectively and efficiently.
The Council has therefore decided to introduce charges to cover
the cost to the Planning Service of monitoring and drafting
planning obligations. They were agreed by the Council's Cabinet on
15 March 2011, following a process of consultation and
consideration by the Planning & Development Committee. The
charges will become operable from 1 April 2011 and will apply to
all planning obligations relating to planning applications received
by the Council after that date, or which have not yet been formally
considered for decision by Planning & Development Committee by
that date.
The proposed charges have been drawn up having regard to
relevant national guidance and legislation. They have been devised
to be proportionate to the amount of work undertaken in relation to
planning obligations by the Council and to the scale of
development. The monies raised would be spent on costs relating to
the administration and monitoring of planning obligations.
The charges are set out below:
Monitoring Charge
- Monitoring Charges on all non financial obligations - £500 per
obligation.
- Monitoring Charges on financial obligations – 5% of value of
all obligations up £100,000, plus an additional 2.5% of any amount
exceeding £100,000. A fixed charge of £250 shall be levied where
the total is less than £5000.
The above charges would normally be payable after 6 months of
commencement of development or occupation of 50% of development,
whichever is the sooner, but this may be subject to negotiation.
They would also normally be subject of an uplift based on the
increase in the Retail Price Index between the date of the
agreement/undertaking and the date they are invoiced.
Planning Drafting Charge
- Planning drafting charge of £150 per planning obligation in a
Section 106 Agreement (except for unilateral undertakings and where
drafting has been covered by pre-application charges). This would
be paid on receipt of the completed agreement.
Note: Legal Services may also charge for any costs involved in
preparing a Section 106 agreement.
Rather than having to pay the drafting charges outlined above,
developers are encouraged to use the services of their own
solicitors to prepare a unilateral undertaking containing planning
obligations, where this is appropriate.
The Council may be able to assist with model planning
obligations. This should ideally be completed at least in draft
form when a planning application is submitted to the Council and is
likely to speed up considerably the time taken to process the
application.
Neither the monitoring, nor the drafting charge, would be
subject to VAT.
There will be a strong presumption that the monitoring charges
in particular will be applied in all cases and any reduction would
only be allowed where a compelling case has been made on the basis
of the principles set out in the CIL Regulations 2010 (or
subsequent re-enacting legislation).
Monitoring Reports can be viewed by clicking this link: Monitoring Reports
If you have any questions or require more information please
contact the planning application case officer or Hugh Smith, Major
Projects Officer. Email: hugh.smith@scarborough.gov.uk
. Tel. (01723) 383642.