§ Lord Kennetasked Her Majesty's Government:
What are the present arrangements about the payment of "planning gain" and what is its status in planning law.
§ Baroness Denton of WakefieldThe term "planning gain" has no statutory meaning and is not found in the Planning Acts. It has come to be used very loosely to describe agreements made between developers and local planning authorities associated with larger development proposals.
Section 106 of the Town and Country Planning Act 1990 enables local planning authorities to enter into a planning obligation with anyone with an interest in land in their area, restricting the development or use of the land; requiring specific operations or activities on the land; requiring the land to be used in a specific way; or requiring a sum or sums of money to be paid to the authority. The Department of the Environment has issued very full guidance on the use of such obligations in the DoE Circular 16/91 (Welsh Office Circular 53/91).