Shropshire Council set to lose millions in payments after ruling on housing developments
Shropshire Council is set to lose out on millions of pounds as house builders scramble to renegotiate planning agreements following a Government ruling.
Councillor Malcolm Price, Shropshire Council's cabinet member for planning, said that the amount the authority will receive is set to be "significantly reduced" from the £22.8 million currently outstanding.
Despite that, it has emerged that the council managed to make £3.1 million from planning obligations in 2015-16.
The fees on planning obligations agreed as part of the planning permission are only payable when a site is actually built.
The change in the forecast relates to Government policy which says local authorities cannot ask for affordable housing contributions from those building 10 homes or fewer.
However, some leeway has been granted with developments of five houses or fewer, escaping the levy in certain designated rural areas of the county.
Councillor Price admitted that the change in policy has led to a number of developers looking to alter the terms of a previously agreed planning obligation.
He said: "The £22.3m is money that only comes in when the schemes are built. That money is due to us but some will change because some are renegotiating what they owe due to the affordable housing payments.
"There are some doing it as you would expect. It is what it is, that is what the rules say so they can come and talk to us."
However, Councillor Price also confirmed that for those who have already started to build it will be too late to renegotiate."
He also said the council is still disappointed that the ruling had put a stop to a policy which they believed was benefitting the entire county.
He said: "The policy was working well. It did not need Government interference.
"The idea was it was not just big schemes that pay for affordable housing, everyone had to pay so it was fair."
In his annual report Councillor Price said: "As part of the changes to team structures the Planning Obligations Monitoring Team is now part of the planning service.
"It is responsible for collecting and monitoring financial and non-financial planning obligations. The current position is that £3.1 million of funds have been collected in 2015/16 in respect of financial obligations associated with planning applications.
