Bedfordshire slaps five-year delivery clause on new sites

November 16, 2016 / Isla MacFarlane
Bedfordshire slaps five-year delivery clause on new sites

Central Bedfordshire Council (CBC) has developed and implemented a Five Year Delivery Clause for developers applying for planning permission for residential schemes. The clause requires developers to obligate themselves to build a percentage of homes within the first five years of a permission being granted.

Jason Longhurst, Director of Regeneration and Business, said, “In the last few weeks the industry has heard from Sajid Javid, calling for one million new homes, the RICS has stated the UK is facing a critical shortage of homes to rent and Gavin Barwell has announced he is considering requiring developers to provide timetables for build-out rates.

“So, it is against this backdrop that Central Bedfordshire has already implemented an initiative we actually started to develop a year or so ago, to ensure that developers contribute to our five-year shortfall.

“Developer reticence to build on approved sites has been an ongoing frustration for us, added to which in the region of 10,000 of our forecast homes are based in a couple of major schemes but these sites are not, at the moment, contributing to our five-year supply. We needed to take action and this underpins our proactive approach to support, manage and ensure growth delivery on permitted sites.”

Andrew Davie, Development Infrastructure Group Manager at CBC, added, “The Delivery Clause included within S106 Agreements, requires developers, during the consideration of the application, to identify the number they will build out within the first five years following permission. We require them to provide a figure which is considered to positively contribute to our housing trajectory.

“We have already issued permission with this clause attached, the first two were both with David Wilson Homes, who have committed to delivering 100% within five years. We already have others in the pipeline who have committed to some very positive figures. We believe we are ahead of the curve in ensuring communities get the homes they need and we are proactively supporting the Government’s strong desire to see an increase in ‘delivery rates’.”

PHOTO CREDIT: Peter O’Connor

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