§ Baroness Crawleyasked Her Majesty's Government:
When they will publish their consultation document on planning obligations. [HL2104]
§ Lord Falconer of ThorotonWe are publishing today a consultation document entitledPlanning obligations: delivering a fundamental change, which is one of a series of consultation papers that together propose a radical reform of the planning system.
Planning obligations (also known as Section 106 agreements) are typically agreements between developers and local authorities negotiated in the context of granting a planning consent. They have been criticised by the Committee on Standards in Public Life (the Nolan Committee) for being insufficiently transparent. Business finds them slow to negotiate, unpredictable and, in some cases, unfair. They are then a disincentive to developers, who may find themselves with long, expensive planning delays.
We are proposing to replace the present system of negotiated planning obligations with a tariff that will be set by local authorities in their local development plans. The tariff will apply in principle to all development that receives a planning consent. It will therefore give business much more certainty about what cost, in terms of planning obligations, it faces if it chooses to buy and develop a particular piece of land or property. We are also proposing that some development should be exempt because it is too small, it is financially marginal—such as development of an urban brownfield site—or serves a clear purpose in promoting sustainable development.
The tariff would be spent in line with the priorities set out in local development plans. We would expect the provision of affordable housing to be a high priority in most plans.
Our proposals will create an open, accountable and predictable system that will enable business to see at the outset of a development what level of planning obligation is likely to be incurred. The tariff will so far as possible require no negotiation. It will be much easier for local authorities to administer and should allow planning permissions to be issued much faster.
We propose in the consultation document to allow planning obligations to be used to enable communities to share in the benefits of sustainable growth. Development pressures in some areas are placing heavy burdens on the existing infrastructure and especially on the supply of affordable housing for 58WA nurses, teachers, police officers and other keyworkers. We need to ensure that new development supports the investment required in new facilities to help improve the quality of life for local communities.
Copies of the consultation document will he placed in the Library of the House.