The Section 106 Road Map and its Impact on Unsold Homes and New Homes
Posted on in Planning, Environment & Licensing
Earlier this year, the government set out a major reform programme termed the “Section 106 Road Map” to tackle inefficiency, delay and falling demand in the Section 106 (S106) developer contributions system. This system remains a crucial route for delivering social and affordable housing in England. At the time of the S106 Road Map’s unveiling, Ministers called for a reset to the system so it becomes simpler, more transparent and more resilient, with better pricing consistency, clearer standards for S106 homes, and earlier collaboration between local planning authorities (LPAs), Registered Providers (RPs) and developers.
S106 Road Map’s Key Priorities
Priority 1: Stalled S106 Homes
In the short term, a key priority of this reform is to deal with the growing backlog of S106 homes that have already been built or consented but remain uncontracted and unsold because developers have been unable to find an RP to acquire them. The government says this is stalling housing schemes, delaying build-out and disrupting wider housing supply.
To unlock these homes, the programme expects LPAs to renegotiate S106 agreements where developers can show they have made all reasonable efforts to secure a buyer on the basis of the original affordable housing requirement. This emergency, time-limited route allowed the tenure of homes to be varied through a deed of variation or a formal application under section 106A of the Town and Country Planning Act 1990. To qualify, developers must;
- have exhausted reasonable marketing efforts;
- have uploaded unsold units to the Homes England Clearing Service by 1 June 2026;
- kept them live there for six weeks;
- and ensured the homes are due for completion on or before 1 December 2027.
LPAs are being urged to take a pragmatic, light-touch approach, avoid renegotiation where reasonable RP offers already exist, and use alternative dispute resolution where there is disagreement over whether bids are reasonable.
Priority 2: S106 for New Developments
Alongside this emergency intervention, the government wants to simplify and strengthen the way S106 agreements are negotiated for new developments. It says local plans should set out contributions more clearly at the plan-making stage, including affordable housing requirements and infrastructure, so that viability is considered earlier and there is greater certainty about what development is expected to deliver.
The 2026 NPPF and the S106 Road Map
Despite the ministerial reshuffle of July 2026, there are several indications in the new National Planning Policy Framework (published on 17 August 2026) (NPPF) which signal continuing momentum in the Government’s push to enact S106 reform.
The NPPF further limits the circumstances in which viability assessments can be used at application stage (paragraph DM5 of the NPPF). Simultaneously, it encourages better pre-application engagement so that heads of terms can be agreed more quickly.
During the initial unveiling of the S106 Road Map, the Government also announced their intention to publish a standardised S106 template, starting with medium sites and agreements for schemes below 50 homes, to speed up drafting, reduce friction and free up capacity in LPAs. Alongside this, paragraph DM6.4 of the NPPF now states that where there are national model planning obligations relevant to the development, they should be used unless there are strong reasons for using a different planning obligation.
The NPPF also now allows military affordable housing to count within affordable housing requirements and allows scheme which include military affordable housing to not comply with the development plan requirements for the mix of affordable housing tenures (paragraph HO8 of the NPPF)
Developments to Monitor
Following the recent publishing of the new NPPF, we are especially interested in how two particular aspects of S106 Road Map reforms, which were not addressed in the new NPPF, will further unfold.
The S106 Road Map aimed to set out clearer expectations for how S106 homes should be designed and delivered through new governmental guidance which is yet to be published. According to the policy guidance, topics that will be addressed in future guidance include the standards these homes must meet, strengthening the role of RPs in shaping specifications, and encouraging earlier and better collaboration so homes are built to a standard that works for future tenants and providers. The government also wants more consistency in how prices are negotiated, drawing on examples where LPAs publish transfer rates to give developers and RPs greater certainty and transparency.
To support delivery, the government also included plans to rebuild the financial capacity of the housebuilding sector in its S106 Road Map. Measures include:
- low-interest loans for Private Registered Providers, with up to 10% of the £2.5 billion loan scheme available to support S106 delivery;
- LPAs will able to use Right to Buy receipts and Local Authority Housing Fund money to purchase S106 homes directly
- RP consortia bidding arrangements
- stronger involvement from mayoral strategic authorities; and
- new investment models backed by debt guarantees to bring unsold homes into use while keeping them as regulated affordable housing.
The government says it will monitor delivery more closely through the Homes England Clearing Service and data collected through the Social and Affordable Housing Programme.
How Tozers can help
The experienced planning lawyers at Tozers can guide you through required variations to your existing S106 Agreements to keep developments moving and can assist with the preparation of S106 Agreements in support of any planning applications.