New guidance helps councils get more developer cash for schools

UK housing developers are to be “encouraged” in new government guidance to stump up cash to fund the school places that their schemes eventually create.

Local authorities will be able to use the new guidance to negotiate better terms around funding and land that would be required to build new schools and expanding existing ones.

The government said that while developers already contributed to the costs of infrastructure when building new homes in an area, the requirements of local councils varied around the country.

All housebuilders are obliged to contribute towards infrastructure, including schools, transport and open spaces, when delivering housing schemes.

In 2017, Persimmon spent £64m on community schemes including education and other infrastructure projects.

The latest guidance sets out that where new schools are required as a result of a housing scheme local authorities will be able to seek funding for construction and for suitable land to be set aside.

Developers could also build schools themselves, instead of handing money over to councils, although the education department said these would need to “built at the right time so that places are available for the children who need them, when they need them”.

Lord Agnew, the schools minister, said it was not enough for developers “to simply build houses”.

The Conservative life peer and Norfolk businessman said it was vital that developers contributed to the cost of the school places that resulted from the housing schemes they built.

“This government is already undertaking a huge expansion in school places, with 1 million new places on track to be created this decade.

“But schools can still find themselves under pressure from new housing developments, and where they do it’s right that where appropriate developers support these costs,” Agnew added.