Section 106 planning trends
Applications mentioning a Section 106 agreement, changes included, take 1.7 times their 2016 share: the Section 106 planning index stands at 171.
Section 106 applications since 2016
Section 106 applications in every 10,000 planning applications, over the 12 months to each month
How this is measuredA larger share every year since 2021
Section 106 took 15 in every 10,000 applications in 2021, then a larger share every year, reaching 29 in the 12 months to September 2026. Yearly counts ranged from 927 to 1,170 from 2021 to 2025, so most of the growth is in share.
South West and Wales lead
From 2023 to 2025 the South West received 47 Section 106 applications in every 10,000, against 23 across the UK, with Wales next on 38. London, on 16, was below the UK figure. Cornwall leads all councils with 848 since 2016.
Q3 2026 against a year earlier
Councils received 308 Section 106 applications in Q3 2026: 30 in every 10,000 applications, against 27 in Q3 2025, a share of all applications 12% higher than a year earlier.
Section 106 applications each quarter
308 in Q3 2026, against 293 a year earlier.
Out of every 10,000 applications
As a share of every application: 30 in every 10,000 in Q3 2026, against 27 a year earlier.
Where Section 106 applications concentrate
By region
Section 106 applications in every 10,000 planning applications, 2023 to 2025
Councils with the most
Applications since 2016
-
Cornwall
South West · 110 in every 10,000 848 -
Powys
Wales · 227 in every 10,000 286 -
Somerset
South West · 48 in every 10,000 276 -
Dorset
South West · 43 in every 10,000 208 -
Shropshire
West Midlands · 60 in every 10,000 193 -
Wealden
South East · 78 in every 10,000 191 -
Breckland
East of England · 126 in every 10,000 179 -
North Yorkshire
Yorkshire and Humber · 23 in every 10,000 158 -
Southwark
London · 64 in every 10,000 146 -
Scottish Borders
Scotland · 102 in every 10,000 142
Latest Section 106 applications
- Land Off Niort Way Northants Llp Niort Way Wellingborough Provision of 0.18 hectares of Allotments, boundary fencing and associated infrastructure as required by section 106 legal agreement associated with variation to planning permission reference WP/16/00271/VAR.
- Land Off Niort Way Northants Llp Niort Way Wellingborough Provision of 0.2 hectares of Community Orchard, Boundary Fencing and Associated Infrastructure as required by the section 106 legal agreement to variaiton to planning permission reference WP/16/00271/VAR
- 5 Higher Blandford Road Poole Application for modification or discharge of planning obligation(s) to amend the trigger point from grant of planning permission to commencement of development - P/25/02321/OUT
- 7 To 13 And Land At Penyston Road Maidenhead Discharge of planning obligation of the S106 legal agreement (Performance review) of permission 24/00577/FULL varied under 25/00326/VAR.
- Gypsy Mead, Ongar Road, Fyfield Deed of Variation of Section 106 of EPF/0016/19 for agreed council acquisition of 6 affordable homes (Proposed development of x 23 no. new homes with associated parking facilities, cycle stores and rubbish disposal (FYF.R1 - Allocated Site in Fyfield)).
- Kayle Farm 26 Wheal Alfred Road Hayle Cornwall Application to discharge a planning obligation in relation to S106 agreement dated 18 February 1993 under reference W1/92/P/0197.
Questions
How many Section 106 planning applications are there in the UK?
Councils have received 11,415 since January 2016, 1,271 of them in the 12 months to September 2026. Their share of all applications is the highest since 2016.
Where are the most Section 106 applications being made?
Cornwall, Powys and Somerset have received the most since 2016.
What is a Section 106 agreement?
A legal agreement made under section 106 of the Town and Country Planning Act 1990 that sets planning obligations on a development, such as affordable housing or payments towards infrastructure. An obligation can later be modified or discharged on application.
Does Scotland use Section 106?
No. Scottish planning obligations are made under section 75 of the Town and Country Planning (Scotland) Act 1997, and Northern Irish ones under section 76 of the Planning Act (Northern Ireland) 2011. Scottish applications that describe a planning obligation are counted here.
About Plota
Plota is the UK's most visited planning search, according to Similarweb. It shows every new planning application from every UK council, read daily from 390 planning registers, with past applications back to 2016 from more than 420 registers, including those of councils since merged. It also covers planning committee decisions, HMO licences and premises licences.
How this is measured
What needs an application
These figures count applications mentioning a Section 106 agreement or a similar planning obligation, including changes to existing ones, not new agreements alone. A September 2019 rule change let English councils pool more than five obligations towards one piece of infrastructure.
Methodology
- What is counted: planning applications to UK councils whose description names Section 106 or a close variant of the words, by the date each council received them. These are planning applications, not completed schemes; the largest energy and infrastructure projects are consented nationally rather than by councils, so they sit outside these counts.
- How matches are checked: we read the 200 most recent Section 106 applications and 20 from every year since 2016 to confirm each one belongs.
- Topic counts leave out, by design, works to trees and applications that only discharge conditions, amend an earlier permission or approve reserved matters, which follow a scheme already counted. Everything else is counted.
- A share is the number out of every 10,000 applications over the previous 12 months. Each topic is a number in every 10,000 planning applications, so trends compare when overall planning activity changes; the share still moves when either the topic's count or the total does. The Section 106 planning index sets the 2016 share at 100, so 200 means twice as common as in 2016.
- Source: the planning registers of every UK council, January 2016 to September 2026, read on 9 November 2026.
- Planning is seasonal, so each quarter is compared with the same quarter a year earlier.
- Year on year: each topic's and theme's share of all applications in Q3 2026, against Q3 2025, at every council we hold. A share is the number in every 10,000 applications. Shares compare across councils and years; raw counts do not.
- Left out of the topic shares: Birmingham's applications from June to September 2026: a validation backlog at the council since June 2026: of 685 reference numbers it issued in September, its register lists 288. The same months a year earlier are left out too, so every comparison covers the same councils.
- Download the data (CSV): every topic and theme, each quarter since 2016.
Sources
- The 2019 amendments removed the previous restriction on pooling more than five planning obligations towards a single piece of infrastructure, from 1 September 2019. gov.uk
- Regulation 11 of the Community Infrastructure Levy (Amendment) (England) (No. 2) Regulations 2019 omits regulation 123, the pooling restriction. legislation.gov.uk
- Planning obligations are made under section 106 of the Town and Country Planning Act 1990 and can be modified or discharged on application. gov.uk
- Scottish planning obligations are made under section 75 of the Town and Country Planning (Scotland) Act 1997. legislation.gov.uk
- Northern Ireland planning agreements are made under section 76 of the Planning Act (Northern Ireland) 2011. legislation.gov.uk