A bottleneck breakthrough? Government publishes new S106 Roadmap

On 28 January 2026, the Ministry of Housing, Communities & Local Government published “A roadmap for Section 106 delivery in England”. The roadmap seeks to simplify the delivery of S106 agreements and introduce transparent and consistent standards, recognising their essential role in delivery of the Government’s social and affordable housing targets. 

Why is a change in policy necessary?

S106 Agreements have been causing somewhat of a bottleneck in the effectively delivery of affordable, social and new homes. This is owing to the complex negotiations that precede agreements often resulting in inconsistent outcomes and concern that developer’s contributions are not working as effectively as they should. 

Further, once a S106 agreement is in place, declining demand for s106 housing units is resulting in thousands of consented units remaining uncontracted and unsold. This is delaying the build out of development sites and consequentially housing supply.

What is the Government proposing?

Emergency action to unlock legacy uncontracted S106 homes:

Currently, the options available for unlocking uncontracted S106 units are (1) renegotiation with developers (e.g. varying the number/tenure of social and affordable units to be delivered) or (2) the drafting of “cascade” mechanisms which provide for the tenure of homes to be varied if buyers cannot be found for social and affordable units. The latter, the Government observes, has largely fallen out of use owing to the loss of control this creates over housing delivery for Local Planning Authorities (LPA).

Published as part of the Roadmap, the Government has published policy guidance which sets out the steps LPAs should follow where the following conditions are met:

• Developers have demonstrated that, despite using all reasonable endeavours to secure a registered provider (R) purchaser in line with the affordable housing requirement in their S106 agreement, no buyer has been found.
• Developers have uploaded all uncontracted S106 units to the Homes England Clearing Service by 1 June 2026 and remain live on the Clearing Service for a minimum period of six weeks from the date of upload.
• The units must be due for completion on or before 1 December 2027, defined as when the home is ready for occupation or a completion certificate is issued.
• LPAs should not agree tenure renegotiations where uncontracted S106 homes have received reasonable offers from willing and suitable RPs. Assessing the reasonableness of bids remains a matter for LPAs however a light-touch assessment should be undertaken (given the role the Clearing Service plays in this regard).
• Developers have notified the LPA of all bids received from RPs for uncontracted S106 homes.

In such cases, LPAs should use existing flexibilities to vary S106 agreements to enable a sale, including by deed of variation (by agreement or under S106A of the Town and Country Planning Act 1990. 

LPAs should decide promptly whether to renegotiate S106 agreements, normally within twelve weeks of the Clearing Service period, prioritising alternative affordable or discounted tenures. Where private sale or rent is necessary, equivalent provision should be secured elsewhere or via a payment in lieu. Any variation must be time‑limited and revert automatically to the original tenure mix if homes are not completed by 1 December 2027, with no use of site‑specific viability to reduce obligations. 

This sharp shift in policy, the Government emphasises, is a time-limited emergency measure to enable LPAs to renegotiate. 

Supporting LPAs to negotiate S106 agreements:

The following measures are intended to strengthen and simplify the process for agreeing developer contributions:

• Local plans will be expected to clearly set out the contributions expected from development including required levels and types of affordable housing. This will be supported by the proposed new National Planning Policy Framework (NPPF) which emphasises consideration of development viability at the plan-making stage.
• Proposed new NPPF will clarify the limited circumstances where viability assessments are justified and emphasise early pre‑application engagement to agree S106 heads of terms as quickly as possible.
• Introduction of a new standardised template S106 agreement. Principally, a template for medium sites (under 50 units) setting out the foundational elements to provide LPAs with a useful starting point and allow negotiations to focus on thornier issues. 

Setting clear sector expectations to guide S106 delivery:

The Government will issue new guidance to provide greater clarity and certainty in the delivery of S106 homes, promoting early engagement and collaboration between RPs, developers and LPAs. 

This guidance will introduce:

• Clear, proportionate standards for S106 homes applicable to all developers, drawing together pre-existing regulatory and additional requirements set by RPs.
• An agreed framework for earlier engagement and collaboration between parties, including RP involvement at planning stage to inform design.
• Standardisation in S106 pricing, building on best practice such as publishing transfer rates.
• Targeted support to make the S106 process more accessible for small housing providers.

This guidance will be published before the emergency action to unlock uncontracted and unsold S106 units is closed, to ensure all stakeholders are clear on their responsibilities going forwards.

Expanding financial capacity to revive the market to deliver for S106 homes:

Without rebuilding the sector’s financial capacity, the success of the above measures will be unsustainable in the long term. Therefore, the Government proposes:

• Low‑interest loans will be available to Private RPs, administered by the National Housing Bank and the Greater London Authority in London.
• The Social and Affordable Housing Programme prospectus requires RPs to report on homes delivered through S106 agreements, reinforcing expectations that S106 accompanies land‑led development.
• Councils can use RTB receipts and the Local Authority Housing Fund to purchase S106 homes, with further work underway to improve the use of commuted sums.
• An RP consortium to enable joint bidding for S106 homes and a stronger role for Established Mayoral Strategic Authorities in the S106 market.
• Building on the Affordable Homes Guarantee Scheme, the Government will continue to explore ways to crowd in private investment to acquire unsold S106 homes while retaining them as regulated affordable housing.
• Proposed National Planning Policy changes would include military affordable housing within the definition of affordable housing, enabling delivery through S106, with consultation open until 10 March 2026.

Opportunities and challenges following the Roadmap

Whilst unusually swift, the proposals put forward in the Roadmap should come as no surprise given housing delivery is top of the Government’s agenda. The emergency measures to unlock stalled schemes should, in the short term, start unlocking uncontracted sites however as is always the case where conditions are imposed, there will no doubt be further debate to be had as to whether the LPA has evidenced these are met (for example as to the assessment of a “reasonable” bid.)

Given the delays associated with getting a S106 agreement up and running, the introduction of a standardised template should be well received on both sides. For those concerned about the speed and extent of these changes, there is a clear opportunity to meaningfully engage with the Government’s call for feedback on the Roadmap and the NPPF consultation (closing 10 March 2026). Engagement across the sector will ensure forthcoming standards, pricing approaches and new models for RP involvement are workable in practice and that further bottlenecks do not emerge in the future. A further update to the Roadmap is expected in Spring 2026.