New research conducted by the Home Builders Federation estimates that a total of £2.8billion in housebuilder contributions could be going unspent by local authorities.
The report suggests that millions of pounds of contributions made by developers as part of planning agreements to fund local services and infrastructure upgrades are going unspent.
The total figure includes:
- £567million allocated for affordable housing, enough to fund the construction of nearly 7,000 much-needed homes
- £420million in education contributions that could cover training costs of 45,000 teachers
- £384million of highways contributions, enough to repair over six million potholes
- £334million in unspent social infrastructure contributions that would pay for 1,900 community games areas
The report, based on Freedom of Information (FOI) responses from 171 local authorities, 50% of all local authorities in England and Wales, shows an average of £8million is being held by each council and a total of £2.8billion when extrapolating the findings across all local councils.
The report also found that five of the 10 councils with the highest amounts of unspent affordable housing contributions are in London, where the housing crisis is most acute.
Housebuilders’ Section 106 contributions to local authorities as part of the planning process are in place to ensure that investment is made in community services, facilities and affordable housing so that local people benefit from development within their area. However, HBF’s research suggests a lack of capacity or unwillingness to spend these developer contributions which is preventing communities from realising the benefits of local investment. This has inevitable consequences for locals’ perceptions of new homes, further fuelling resurgent NIMBYism that threatens development across England and Wales.
The HBF is calling for developers’ contributions to be spent according to their negotiated purpose and within their agreed time limit, rather than returned to developers or left unspent.
Stewart Baseley, executive chairman at HBF, said: “Each year developers contribute around £8billion to local authorities for the provision of local infrastructure, affordable housing and education, recreational and health facilities.”
“Investment in new housing delivery brings unrivalled economic and social benefits to communities but too many of these advantages are going unseen by local people as councils fail to turn payments into the services, facilities and infrastructure that residents want. Not only is this a disservice to communities but it undermines perceptions of home building, allowing lazy negative perceptions to persist.”
“In the face of a deepening housing shortage and cost of living crisis, it has never been more important to build new homes and local people should enjoy the benefits that can bring.”
