Developer Contributions

When development takes place there is a need for infrastructure and services to accompany it. This can include roads, schools, healthcare or a wide range of other facilities depending on the scale and location of the development. Developer contributions are intended to ensure that developers make appropriate provision for any losses, or supply additional facilities and services, that are required to mitigate the impact of a development.

In March 2001 Leicestershire County Council originally adopted its Statement of Requirements for Developer Contributions.        

Section 106 of the Town and Country Planning Act 1990 (as amended by the Planning and Compensation Act 1991) forms the basis of developer contributions, allowing County Councils, district authorities, service providers and developers to negotiate legal agreements to offset the impact of a development, in conjunction with a grant of planning permission.

Government Circular 05/2005, Planning Obligations”, although not fundamentally changing the system of seeking developer contributions, emphasises the importance of clear and consistent guidance, where formulae and standard charges are to be used wherever possible. The Circular includes the ‘necessity test’, which ensures that any developer contributions are directly linked to a specific impact of a development and that the funds acquired are to be used for that purpose.

It is in the light of these changes, revised calculations and experiences that the County Council prepared an updated Statement of Requirements for Developer Contributions in Leicestershire (SRDCL). The updated statement provided guidance on the possible level and types of contribution that developers will be expected to make, to secure adequate provision of infrastructure and services for new developments.

The revised developer contributions document, the Statement of Requirement for Developer Contributions in Leicestershire(SRDCL), was approved at the meeting of the full County Council on the 6th December 2006. The approved document and minutes are available online.

In December 2007 the County Council undertook an interim review of selected parts of the guidance.  The guidance will be the subject of  further review/s and update/s in response to any proposed changes in relation to developer contributions and will for example involve consultation with interested parties where appropriate. Amongst other matters, it will be necessary to update the formulae and standards applied to various 'pro rata' contributions, as the rates are inflation-linked from the beginning of the financial year (i.e. 1st April).

The previously adopted Statement of Requirement for Developer Contribution (March 2001) can be found on our County Planning Archive Document webpage for reference.