Last Wednesday evening, inside the grand setting of Parliament, an initiative quietly significant for the future of UK housebuilding was launched. The Land, Planning and Development Federation, in partnership with Town Legal LLP, unveiled a suggested new draft template for Section 106 (S106) agreements, designed specifically for small and medium-sized residential developments.
Before you picture reams of legal text and a lawyer gleefully reaching for another highlighter, this is good news - really good news. Because this new template has one purpose: to make the planning process faster, clearer, and far less painful for everyone involved.
Accompanied by practical recommendations, the template could dramatically reduce delays that currently add unnecessary time, cost, and complexity to housing delivery.
At LandTech, we see this as a perfect example of the sector working together to cut friction and enable development. And our tools can help developers and planners act on these improvements, turning policy and templates into real-world action.
The proposals were examined at an event hosted by Mike Reader MP, bringing together respected voices in planning and development:
The conversation ranged from technical to strategic, but the room was aligned on one point: the system for negotiating and drafting S106 agreements is too slow, inconsistent, and resource-intensive, particularly for SMEs.
Currently, S106 agreements often create friction at exactly the moment the planning system should be enabling development. Local planning authorities spend hours rewording clauses. Applicants spend days revising drafts. Lawyers across the country are redrafting the same base clauses again and again.
At LandTech, we know that delays like this don’t just slow development - they can affect site viability, investment decisions, and the speed at which homes actually reach the market.
The launch of this template coincides with the Housing, Communities, and Local Government Select Committee calling for national standardisation of S106 clauses.
Standard wording reduces workload for local authorities and applicants. It ensures greater consistency across England. And it removes hours lost renegotiating base clauses that rarely need changing.
In other words, the Select Committee wants a system that works smarter, not harder.
The Section 106 template aims to do exactly that.
Town Legal LLP led the project, informed by a sector-wide workshop that brought together:
The priorities were clear:
The resulting template reflects all of these aims. It is concise, avoids unnecessary legalese, and is designed for small and medium-sized developments where proportionality matters most.
S106 agreements secure essential commitments, including:
Done well, S106 agreements ensure development is fair, sustainable and aligned with local needs.
But the process for creating them is slow - painfully so. For smaller schemes, delays can be disproportionate. SMEs often lack the internal resources of national housebuilders. Every week of delay increases borrowing costs and risk. Councils also face stretched resources and excessive review cycles.
The draft template provides a base structure all parties can use as a shared starting point, including:
Panel discussions highlighted the template’s practical value.
If adopted widely, the template could deliver several benefits:
Fewer rounds of amendments means planning permissions can be granted more quickly.
Planners and legal teams spend less time reviewing repetitive clauses.
Fewer legal reviews translate into significant savings, especially for SMEs.
Similar wording across councils creates a more transparent and navigable system.
Less friction over drafting, more focus on outcomes, and a smoother planning process.
Every day saved in planning is a day closer to homes reaching communities.
The full draft template and recommendations are available here:
Simplifying and Standardising Section 106 Agreement Processes: Proposals for Reform
Town Legal welcomes comments and feedback from the sector.
While standardised templates are a big step forward, the real game-changer is using technology to act on them. With LandTech:
In short, our tools help developers turn standardised S106 agreements from paperwork into actionable insight, accelerating delivery and giving teams confidence that nothing is overlooked.
If you’re a developer or planner looking to streamline your S106 process, book a demo with LandTech today. See how LandInsight and LandFund can help you: