Section 106 Agreements and their variations come in different forms which we discuss below.

Bilateral Section 106 Agreement

This is an agreement made under Section 106 of the Town and Country Planning Act 1990 which is entered into and executed by both the local planning authority and the persons interested in the land.

This is the most common form of Section 106 Agreement and its wording is negotiated with the local planning authority.

It is the prerogative of the local planning authority to prepare the 1st draft of the agreement and many authorities have template wording for their agreements.

You will need to pay the local planning authority’s legal costs and also possibly a monitoring fee.

Section 106 Unilateral Undertaking

This is an agreement made under Section 106 of the Town and Country Planning Act 1990 which is entered into and executed only by the persons interested in the land and which is offered to the local planning authority.

This form of Section 106 Agreement is typically used to provide for less complex planning obligations or is submitted by an appellant during a planning appeal.

Unlike a bilateral Section 106 Agreement, a Section 106 Unilateral Undertaking cannot impose direct covenants on the local planning authority.

A benefit of a Section 106 Unilateral Undertaking is speed, as less (if any) negotiations with the local planning authority are required.

Deed of Variation under 106A

This is a deed made under Section 106A of the Town and Country Planning Act 1990 which is entered into between the local planning authority and the persons interested in land to vary a Section 106 Agreement.

This deed can be entered into at any time with the consent of the local planning authority to provide for variations to the obligations in the original Section 106 Agreement.

The parties to the deed need to be the persons interested in the land and the local planning authority.

Variation Application under 106A

This is an application submitted to the local planning authority pursuant to Section 106A of the Town and Country Planning Act 1990 to vary obligations in a Section 106 Agreement.

This application can only be made after a period of 5 years from the date of the original Section 106 Agreement has expired.

Where the local planning authority fails to determine or refuses the application, then there is a right of appeal to the Secretary of State under Section 106B of the Town and Country Planning Act 1990.