Section 106 Agreements - Planning Obligations

*Cheshire East Council charges for the legal fees associated with preparing and negotiating S106 agreements and you will be required to enter into an undertaking for costs prior to legal work being commenced. The fees are charged at £220 per hour and this includes consideration of Unilateral Undertakings submitted to the Council as part of the planning application and Appeals process*

These are legally binding agreements negotiated between the Planning Authority and the applicant/ developer and any other parties that may have an interest in the land. A ‘unilateral undertaking’ is an agreement proposed independently by applicants.

Cheshire East seeks to mitigate the impact of new developments through planning obligations secured through S106 Agreements.

Section 106 of The Town and Country Planning Act 1990 as amended provides the Local Planning Authority with the power to enter into an S106 agreement. 

S106 agreements can

• secure financial contributions to provide infrastructure or affordable housing
• secure affordable housing and to specify the type and timing of this housing
• restrict the development or use of the land in any specified way
• require specified operations or activities to be carried out in, on, under or over the land
• require the land to be used in any specified way

Our Infrastructure Funding Statements summarise how we spend Section 106 contributions.

Legal test

The legal test for a s106 agreement is set out in regulations 122 and 123 of the Community Infrastructure Levy Regulations 2010 as amended.

These tests are:

1. necessary to make the development acceptable in planning terms
2. directly related to the development; and
3. fairly and reasonably related in scale and kind to the development

Policy tests

Policy tests are contained in the National Planning Policy Framework (NPPF):

• 203.Local planning authorities should consider whether otherwise unacceptable development could be made acceptable through the use of conditions or planning obligations. Planning obligations should only be used where it is not possible to address unacceptable impacts through a planning condition.
• 204. Planning obligations should only be sought where they meet all of the following tests:
• necessary to make the development acceptable in planning terms
• directly related to the development; and
• fairly and reasonably related in scale and kind to the development

Spatial Plans in Cheshire East

Section 106 standard form

The Council’s standard S106 precedents are below:

• Cheshire East Section 106 (PDF, 376KB)
• Cheshire East Section 106 Variation (PDF, 62KB)
• Cheshire East Section 106 Unilateral Undertaking (PDF, 348KB)

This document is a standard form of s106 produced by Cheshire East Council. The Council will not ordinarily agree to changes to the definitions or clauses 2-16 contained within this document. You will need to produce title to the land the subject of the application.

Contact Development Management - Planning

Page last reviewed: 28 September 2023