Section 106 agreements are intended to make development acceptable.
Too often, the process becomes one of the reasons homes are delayed.
The current challenge is particularly acute for affordable housing. Registered Providers face their own funding and stock-investment pressures; developers face rising costs and slower sales; local authorities are trying to protect policy outcomes with limited resources.
Repeating entrenched positions does not unlock delivery.
Earlier viability work, realistic assumptions, clearer standard clauses and earlier engagement with potential providers can. In the right circumstances, existing commuted-sum funds may also help bridge a delivery gap.
None of this means abandoning affordable-housing objectives. It means treating delivery as a shared commercial and planning problem rather than leaving it until the end of the application.
We do not necessarily need a more complicated system. We need to operate the existing one better.