Section 106: Planning obligations

1 Overview

Planning obligations address the issue of how facilities and services adversely affected by a particular development can be protected, enhanced, maintained or, where appropriate, new provision made. For example, where there is a new development there may be a need to improve education and social care facilities.

Contributions towards the provision of these facilities are secured in a Section 106 agreement.

2 Planning obligations in West Sussex

Requirements for planning obligations are set out in:

the district and borough council's local planning policies
the provision of service infrastructure related to new development in West Sussex - Part 1 (PDF, 196KB)
our revised supplementary planning guidance for parking standards and transport contributions, available from the pre-application advice for road and transport page.

In April 2020 we introduced our S106 monitoring fee, which is used for the purposes of recovering the costs of monitoring and reporting, in relation to the delivery of planning obligations. Further details can be found in the document below.

Section 106 monitoring fee (PDF, 142KB)

3 Services requiring contributions

Contributions may be required for:

highways
education and other facilities for children and young people
fire and rescue services, including fire hydrants
libraries
services supporting older people and those with disabilities and mental health needs
waste management.

The need for additional services is assessed by calculating the population increase likely to come from a proposed development.

Further information is in the document below:

Explaining contribution calculations (PDF, 100KB)

Education

To find out about education contributions and other information, such as SEND and planning school places, visit our school policy and reports page.

4 Contributions calculators

To give you an idea of how much you may be liable to pay, use the calculator for the relevant district or borough in the documents below.

If unsure, check by entering the development site’s postcode on the district and borough council page.

To find out how contributions are calculated, read the 'Explaining contribution calculations' guidance.

If you are not able to use the calculators for accessibility reasons, please contact us.

5 Community Infrastructure Levy

The Community Infrastructure Levy is a levy that local authorities can choose to charge on new developments in their area. Once in force it will replace planning obligations, although some site specific obligations are likely to remain.

Money raised from the levy can be used to support development by funding infrastructure that the council, local community and neighbourhoods want. This could be new or safer road schemes, park improvements or a new health centre.

Each district and borough council in West Sussex will decide whether to implement the levy in their area. For further information contact the appropriate district or borough council.

6 Infrastructure funding statement

Any local authority that has received developer contributions (Section 106 planning obligations or Community Infrastructure Levy) must publish an Infrastructure Funding Statement (IFS) online. The IFS must cover the previous financial year from 1 April to 31 March.

7 Contact our team

To request copies of Section 106 agreements, contact the relevant district or borough council.