To ask the Minister for Infrastructure whether her Department has undertaken a review of Section 76 Planning Agreements to assess their effectiveness in securing social housing contributions.

Planning agreements are voluntary but legally binding and some councils will use them more than others. My Department does not review councils’ use of planning agreements.

A planning agreement can potentially be used to ensure a development is occupied by a defined use or user. For example, it may be used to secure a proportion of affordable housing or social housing in a new development or a mix of tenure in a housing development. This could be where a need has been established, possibly through a policy requirement or as a key site requirement of a Local Development Plan and where a planning condition may not give the appropriate level of detail or security of outcome to be delivered.