Abolition of section 106 agreements ‘threat to local prioritisation’

A leading figure in the housing sector has expressed concern at the potential abolition of section 106 agreements in favour of an infrastructure levy.

Claire Kober, managing director for homes at property management company Pinnacle Group, told Room151 that section 106 agreements were “not perfect”, but are the primary vehicle for the delivery of new affordable homes and have helped local leaders to realise a vision for their areas.

“Section 106 agreements can secure local employment, deliver open spaces and community facilities, and mitigate the environmental impact of development. They are an important signal to the existing community in terms of saying that local leaders understand that new development has an impact on you, and this is the means by which we can ensure that your priorities are reflected,” she said.

Councils use section 106 agreements to ensure that developments benefit the local community and often include requirements to provide affordable housing. However, the government has indicated that it wants to replace section 106 agreements with an infrastructure levy that would charge developers a fee based on a proportion of the value of each project.

Kober, who is the former leader of the London Borough of Haringey, warned that the introduction of a “generic” infrastructure levy “risks erasing local difference and local prioritisation”.

The first rule of local government is to have a vision for the place, to see your role as being that of leading a place rather than leading an organisation.

“There are plenty of reasons that you could say that section 106 agreements are a less-than-ideal solution, but looking at what they have provided that could be lost – it is the ability to deliver affordable homes at a time when the grant regime has been eroded, shape and recognise local need, champion local priorities and mitigate the impact of developments in a focused way.”

Kober will be speaking on how to improve housing supply at the Housing151 conference later this month. She will emphasise the role of local authorities in helping provide high-quality affordable housing.

“The first rule of local government is to have a vision for the place, to see your role as being that of leading a place rather than leading an organisation,” she said.

“Don’t just see yourself as a neutral recipient of planning applications and the things that developers, investors or landowners want to foist upon you to make a decision on. Instead, think about how you might use the system and the opportunities it provides to create the place that you want.”

An announcement on the planned infrastructure levy is expected in the Queen’s Speech on 10 May.

The Housing151 conference takes place in London on 25 May 2022. Other speakers include: Will Perry, director of strategy at the Regulator of Social Housing, Omar Al-Hasso, managing director of Phi Capital Investments, Tracie Langley, Cornwall Council’s chief operating officer and Janice Morphet, visiting professor at the Bartlett School of Planning.

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