Section 106: Planning obligations

1 Overview

As more new homes are built, we will need more infrastructure to make sure key services can support a growing population. Councils can secure this infrastructure through:

Local Plan policies, which set out how areas will grow
planning applications for specific developments

Planning obligations help protect, improve, or maintain the services and facilities affected by new developments. Where necessary, they can also provide new facilities.

Developers usually provide these through a Section 106 agreement. This is a legal agreement that helps reduce the impact of development and makes sure the right infrastructure is in place.

2 Planning obligations in West Sussex

As part of the planning process, we may seek planning obligations (also known as Section 106 Agreements) to help reduce the impacts of a development.

The document below gives an overview of the planning obligations we may seek from a planning application.

Planning obligations guidance to developer infrastructure contributions (PDF, 201KB)

Requirements for planning obligations are set out in:

the technical appendices on the services requiring contributions page
the district and borough council's local planning policies
our revised supplementary planning guidance for parking standards and transport contributions, available from the pre-application advice for road and transport page

We have a Section 106 (S106) monitoring fee. This recovers the cost of monitoring and reporting on the delivery of planning obligations. You can find further details about this fee in the document below:

Section 106 monitoring fee (PDF, 147KB)

3 Services requiring contributions

We are responsible for ensuring the provision of a range of different council services and may seek a combination of financial contributions, land reservation or facilities from a proposed development. This is to help meet the demand that new developments place on service provision.

Technical appendices

Our technical appendices support the Planning Obligations Guidance for Developer Infrastructure Contributions. They explain how we may ask for contributions for each type of service.

Further information

We may also require contributions for highways.

We calculate the need for additional services with the population increase likely to come from a proposed development.

For further information, refer to the section about indicative contribution calculators.

To find out about education contributions and other information, such as special educational needs and disabilities (SEND) and planning school places, visit our school policy and reports page.

4 Indicative contributions calculators

To find out how we calculate contributions, read the 'Explaining contribution calculations' guidance below.

Explaining contribution calculations (PDF, 100KB)

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 you are unsure, you can check which council covers your development by entering the site's postcode on the district and borough council page.

Calculators

If you cannot use these calculators for accessibility reasons, 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 us

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