Councils holding onto £8bn of developer contributions – HBF

Councils have more than £8 billion of unspent developer contributions in their bank accounts, according to research by the Home Builders Federation.

The research, based on a Freedom of Information (FoI) survey of respondents from 208 local authorities in England and Wales, shows that of this more than £8 billion of infrastructure payments laying unused, more than £6 billion is from section 106 agreements and almost £2 billion was raised through the Community Infrastructure Levy (CIL).

HBF’s report – Unspent Developer Contributions – reveals that on average, local authorities are “sitting on” around £19 million in unspent Section 106 infrastructure contributions.

Around 26% of these contributions have rested in bank accounts for more than five years. HBF said this suggested that around £1.6 billion of “vital” funds for affordable housing and other infrastructure had been resting in council bank accounts for more than half a decade.

A lack of council capacity or willingness to use these developer contributions means that communities across the country are not reaping the benefits from them, which include funding for new social homes, new school buildings, GP surgeries, parks and transport improvements, according to HBF.

The local authorities’ survey responses also …