A fresh drive to get stalled housing deals up and running and builders back on moth-balled sites, was recently announced by Communities Secretary Eric Pickles.

Mr Pickles is concerned that too much development is being stalled because of economically unrealistic agreements negotiated between councils and developers at the height of the housing boom. This has resulted in no development, no regeneration and no community benefits at all when agreements are no longer economically viable.

The deals, known legally as Section 106 agreements, require developers to make a financial contribution to the community or provide housing, amenities or infrastructure as part of their planning permission.

Teams of intermediaries will now offer a free-of-charge advice and support service to councils and developers and will be available to help kick-start renegotiations of these deals to stop them being a barrier to getting building underway.

Pickles Communities Department says that brokers will begin work immediately with an initial wave of councils that are keen to address obstacles that are preventing development in their area before working with other councils around the country. These experts will:

provide technical expertise to unlock negotiations
act as go-betweens in disputes
offer access to a range of support services.

The Government also launched a consultation that proposes giving developers the option to ask councils to renegotiate Section 106 obligations if they were agreed prior to April 2010. Currently these obligations cannot be renegotiated for five years once a council refuses a request for voluntary renegotiation by a developer.

Mr Pickles said: "Tackling problems with stalled development is essential to getting builders back on moth-balled sites and building the homes we need. There is huge potential in sites to boost local economies and we simply cannot afford to have them lying idle because of earlier agreements that are no longer viable.

"The support and advice the expert brokers will offer is one of the many measures we have introduced to get development underway and I hope councils grab this chance to make use of the support we are offering.

"Our reforms to the planning system are already cutting planning red tape and making the system simpler and more accessible to communities and businesses. And further changes were introducing will simplify national planning policy even more and streamline the planning application process."

Councils in Leeds, Ipswich, Corby, Swindon, Ashford, Gloucester, Kirklees, Carlisle, Northumberland and Durham will the first to benefit from the support offered by the expert brokers and will identify key stalled sites they want to see back up and running.

However any renegotiations of Section 106 agreements will not remove the developers obligation to provide critical infrastructure or other contributions to offset the effects of the development, and they should not result in land banking.

Deals need to be realistic and deliverable and will take commitment from both councils and developers to ensure they are delivered swiftly. And councils will also need to ensure they continue to consider local decision making processes when agreeing new deals.