S.106 Agreements

New development in Chichester can bring significant benefits to local communities, including new homes and jobs. However, there are often some less than positive impacts on the local area as a result of development, for example more people using existing local facilities such as parks, roads, libraries, schools and other community facilities. 

These impacts can be addressed through what is known as 'planning obligations'. These planning obligations may include to undertake work, to build affordable housing or to provide additional funding for new services. They can also be used to restrict the development or use of the land in a specific way or to require specific operations or activities to be carried out on the land.

These planning obligations are commitments made by the developer who signs a legal agreement with the council. The legal agreement is known as a 'Section 106 agreement' and forms part of a planning approval. Section 106 agreements are legally binding, and the obligations may be either in cash or kind.

The sort of things which Section 106 agreements can cover:

It all depends on the circumstances of the particular case, but they can often include:

• Provision of off-site highway and drainage improvements necessary to service the proposed development
• Provision of affordable housing and business space
• Provision of compensatory measures for any wildlife habitat lost to development and relocation of protected species
• Financial contributions to supporting infrastructure - such as transport, schools, recreation and open space, and recycling.

How are developer contributions calculated?

Our adopted Supplementary Planning Guidance (explained below) gives guidance on how we calculate contributions. The main areas to benefit are affordable housing, community buildings, leisure facilities, education, public open space, highways improvements and social care. This list is not exhaustive and any other relevant and necessary matter may be included within a planning obligation that can not be secured through the normal planning process but is required in order for the development to be judged acceptable in planning terms which would otherwise be refused.

The protocol below explains the S106 negotiation process and how contributions are managed, processed and monitored to bring about local community benefits.

Supplementary Planning Guidance on the provision of service infrastructure related to new development

The documents below assist prospective developers to identify the likely infrastructure costs associated with the development of a particular site in the Chichester district.

They covers district and county services and provide an overview of the requirements of health authorities, utility companies and Environment Agency.

The Supplementary Planning Guidance (SPG) is in two parts. Part One is produced by the West Sussex County Council and covers services provided by that council. Part Two is produced by Chichester District Council.

The SPG explains that, over time, costs used to calculate contributions may vary and that updates on these costs will be provided as inserts to the SPG document as they are produced. Updates relating to Appendix 7: Residential Land; Appendix 9: Village Halls; and Appendix 10: Recreational Facilities are shown below.

Frequently asked questions

A list of frequently asked questions are available on our S106 FAQ web page, found under Related pages.

Search for planning obligations

Existing S106 Agreements can be found online under the planning application reference using our public access system. Electronic copies of completed S106 Agreements are available along with the other application documentation. Information and help options are provided for each page. To access this service follow the link under related pages on the right.

Legal and Monitoring Fees
The Government's Circular 05/2005 (Para B50) advises Local Authorities to carefully monitor all legal agreements. We charge a legal fee for the preparation, checking and production of S106 Agreements and Unilateral Undertakings. We also charge a monitoring fee for the obligations contained within them.