Planning obligations under Section 106 of the Town and Country Planning Act 1990 (as amended), commonly known as S106 agreements, are a mechanism which make a development proposal acceptable in planning terms, that would not otherwise be acceptable.
They are focused on offsetting and/or easing the site specific impact of development. In certain instances, S106 agreements may still be required in addition to the Community Infrastructure Levy (CIL).
Developments required to apply for S106 agreements
Contributions are required for the following development applications:
- new dwelling(s)
- change of use of a property to a residential purpose
- the subdivision of a property to create new dwellings
- a development resulting in a net gain of residential units.
If a proposed development is located within the Thames Basin Heath Special Protection Area (TBHSPA), the developer will be required to mitigate the development’s impact and contribute towards the Strategic Access Monitoring and Maintenance (SAMM).
Read our Special Protection Area (SPA) Thames Basin Heath Avoidance Strategy
National Planning Policy Framework
Following changes to the government’s National Planning Policy Framework, developments of 10 or more dwellings, or residential developments with a site area of 0.5 hectares or more, are liable for affordable housing contributions through Section 106 agreements. In addition, a ‘vacant building credit’ is also available to developers to incentivise bringing vacant buildings back into use.
Read more about vacant building credit
Application process and fee
We charge developers a management fee of £400 per application to cover the legal costs. This fee must be paid in advance before the application is processed.
Any agreement under Section 106 must be completed before planning permission is granted.
To assist your application, please complete the unilateral undertaking template in line with our requirements, please:
- download the template
- complete the information requested by following the instructions set out in the template
- send a completed draft of the agreement to the legal team for approval
- once approved, print off a copy and sign.
Please note: Applications will not be accepted if there are changes to the structure of the document and electronic submissions submitted without a signature.
Applications can be emailed to: legal@woking.gov.uk
Appeal process and fee
If your application has been appealed to the Planning Inspectorate, please use the unilateral undertaking appeals template.
Applications can be emailed to: legal@woking.gov.uk
GPDO developments (prior approval) application process
The General Permitted Development Order (GPDO) allows for the change of use of some buildings and land to Class C3 (dwelling houses) subject to a prior approval process. Article 3(1) of the GPDO 1995 specifies that planning permission is permitted subject to the Conservation of Habitats & Species Regulations. Regulation 73 makes it a condition of any planning permission granted by general development order which is likely to have a significant effect on a European site must not begin until the developer has received written notification of the approval of the local planning authority under regulation 75. An application for prior approval should therefore include a completed unilateral undertaking for GPDO developments.
Additional charges
We reserve the right to charge an additional fee if you:
- choose to alter the content of the unilateral undertaking template or the appeals template (other than in the areas where instructed to do so)
- decide to draft your own S106 unilateral undertaking
- cover any increase in costs for our legal services involvement in getting an acceptable form of unilateral undertaking agreed.
This charge is a reasonable cost charged by our legal services team to review the bespoke document(s). If you do not to provide advance payment and do not use the template provided as intended, no further progress can be made with your planning application.