Monitoring report for Planning Agreements

Overview of Planning Agreements

During the period 1 April 2020 to 31 March 2025, Belfast City Council entered into a total of 96 Planning Agreements (see Figure 3) which either secured a Financial Developer Contribution, one or more non-financial planning obligations, or a combination of both.

Overview of Financial Developer Contributions

An overview of the Belfast City Council Financial Developer Contributions at 31 March 2025 is provided:

• Secured in principle: £4,353,507
• Received: £3,130,937
• Committed: £2,718,112
• Spent: £325,795

Further details can be found in Table 1 together with Appendix 1 which provides information for Planning Agreements requiring a Financial Developer Contribution.

Figure 4 illustrates how the monies secured in principle between 1 April 2015 - 31 March 2025  is distributed across various categories of deliverable. Public Realm (78 per cent) represents the main use for which Financial Developer Contributions have been secured with Open Space (16 per cent) and Sustainable Transport (5 per cent) providing the majority of the remainder. 

During the period 2020-21 to 2024-25 the Council entered into 12 Planning Agreements which secured Financial Developer Contributions. A total of £851,485 was secured in principle with a total £850,925 received by the Council during this period. The total amount received also includes any financial contributions received from Planning Agreements the Council entered into before 1 April 2020 (see Table 1).

It should be noted that there may be occasions where developers decide not to implement their planning permission and subsequently the amount secured in principle from the Section 76 Agreement does not need to be paid. This principle can also apply to non-financial contributions and obligations.

Overview of other planning obligations secured through Planning Agreements

During the period 2020-2021 to 2024-2025 a total of 49 Planning Agreements secured, in principle, a range of obligations to mitigate the impacts of new development on the City and make it acceptable in planning terms. These obligations can apply to matters including, but not limited to: Travel Plans, travel cards and other sustainable transport measures; Affordable Housing; management of land; management of Purpose Built Managed Student Accommodation; and apprenticeships during the construction phase of the development.

These planning obligations should also help ensure, where appropriate, that development aligns with the policy requirements set out in the Belfast Local Development Plan. For example. Policy HOU5 of the Belfast Local Development Plan (LDP) Plan Strategy requires that a minimum of 20 per cent of dwelling units on sites greater than 0.1 hectares and/or containing five or more dwelling units should be provided as Affordable Housing. 

The following sections provide an overview of the planning obligations secured in relation to the provision of Affordable Housing and sustainable transport measures.

Affordable Housing

For the period from 2020-2021 to 2024-2025 a total of 1,738 Affordable Housing units have been secured in principle through 38 Planning Agreements. All but 80 of these Affordable Housing units have been allocated as either Social Housing for Rent (1,416) or Intermediate Housing for Sale or Rent (242) as shown in Table 2 and Figures 3 and 4. Note – In some instances the Planning Agreement allows for some flexibility as to the Affordable Housing type that is eventually provided. This may result in some units identified as Intermediate Housing being delivered as Social Housing and vice-versa.

* The Affordable Housing Type for 80 of these units to be confirmed at Reserved Matters or Full application stage.

According to the Belfast City Council (BCC) Housing Land Availability Monitor two of these schemes have been completed as at 31 March 2025; 63 units on the site of the former Park Avenue Hotel (LA04/2021/0493/F) and 12 units on lands at Alloa Street and Manor Street (LA04/2020/2042/F).

Sustainable Transport

During the period 2020-2021 to 2024-2025 a total of 51 Planning Agreements secured in principle one or more planning obligations relating to the delivery of Sustainable Transport measures:

• Travel plans
  51 agreements make provision for the implementation of a Travel Plan, typically by a Travel Plan coordinator, which will set out a package of complementary measures, some of which are identified, to assist in the delivery of more sustainable travel patterns.
• Travel cards
  44 agreements make provision for the offer of a Travel Card, typically on the occupation of a residential unit. This potentially equates to 4,946 Travel Cards. Many of the agreements require that the provision of this offer is renewed annually for up to four years.
• Bike offer
  A total of 23 agreements make provision for a “Bike Offer”. Of these, 20 agreements make provision for the offer of Belfast Bike Scheme membership. This potentially equates to 3,860 Belfast Bike Scheme memberships. Many of these agreements require that the provision of this offer is renewed annually for up to three years. A further three agreements make provision for the offer of a Bike Voucher potentially equating to 666 vouchers towards the cost of purchasing a bicycle.
• Car club
  34 agreements make provision for the need to submit a “Car Club Strategy” to the Council and/or the offer of Car Club membership, typically one membership per residential unit, either fully subsidised or provided at a discounted rate. This potentially equates to 3,953 Car Club memberships. Many of the agreements require that the period of Car Club membership offered shall be for up to three years.  
• Green travel measures fund
  In a number of instances a planning agreement has required the owner to put in place a “Green Travel Measures Fund” to fund one or more of the above sustainable transport measures until such times that the fund is fully depleted. Consequently, offer uptake will influence the composition of the potential outcomes identified in the points above. 5 agreements have a Green Travel Measures Fund requirement with a combined total amount of £1 million to be designated to these funds.
• Public transport fund
  One agreement makes provision for a total of £417,777 to be deposited by the owner into the Public Transport Fund over a period of two years. This contribution relates to the Loftlines development and will be used by Translink to enhance the G2 Glider service.