Government Consults on National Section 106 Templates: What Local Authorities Need to Know

As the government consults on national section 106 templates for medium-sized housing sites, Emily Knowles, Rachel Lee and Katie Millar explain what this means for local planning authorities.

Section 106 agreements are essential to the delivery of housing and infrastructure- they secure the planning obligations that make otherwise unacceptable development acceptable in planning terms. Yet negotiations remain one of the most common causes of delay in obtaining planning permission and getting new homes built.

Recognising the negative impacts delay can cause on small and medium enterprise (SMEs), and as part of its wider drive to accelerate housing delivery, the Government has opened a public consultation on standard section 106 templates for medium-sized sites, running until 20 October 2026.

The consultation sits alongside both:

• The Government’s new national guidance on section 106 affordable housing engagement aimed at improving affordable housing delivery.
• The new NPPF (published 17 August 2026), which formally introduces “medium” sites (schemes of up to 2.5 hectares comprising 10 to 49 units) and creates a strong presumption in favour of standardised model obligations through Policy DM6(4) which states “Where national model planning obligations are relevant to the development, they should be used unless there are strong reasons for using a different planning obligation.”

What Does This Mean for Local Authorities?

Once finalised, the standard templates will become the default for medium sites of 10–49 dwellings, and any departure will need to be justified with “strong reasons.”

Councils should consider the practical implications of these drafts for their planning and section 106 teams. For example authorities should be aware of the Council specific administrative and monitoring obligations being proposed, as well as the standard form affordable housing obligations (including the optional affordable housing cascade mechanism).

To ensure the proposed templates are fit for purpose locally, authorities should review their existing precedent agreements against the consultation drafts and ensure their interests are properly represented by responding to the consultation.

How We Can Help

Our planning team regularly advises local planning authorities on all aspects of planning obligations, including the preparation of template section 106 agreements. We are available to help local authority clients navigate this consultation by providing advice or assisting with consultation responses.

Please get in touch with a member of our planning team if you would like to discuss this further.