Billions of pounds paid by builders to boost local services remains unspent, with more than a quarter of the cash unused after more than five years 

New research by the Home Builders Federation estimates that local authorities in England and Wales are sitting on more than £8 billion of infrastructure payments made by developers, including more than £6bn from Section 106 agreements and almost £2bn raised through the Community Infrastructure Levy.

The research is based on a Freedom of Information survey which received responses from 208 local authorities.

The responses show that, on average, councils hold £19 million in unspent Section 106 infrastructure contributions - at a time when the UK government is short of money to invest in infrastructure as the new government searches for much-needed economic growth.

Developer contributions are paid to the local authority to fund affordable housing, infrastructure and amenities to improve the local area for new and existing communities, as part of the process of granting planning permission.

The research shows that a lack of capacity or willingness to spend developer contributions by some local authorities is preventing communities across the country from realising the benefits that have been paid for by the industry – further fuelling misguided objections to development that cite a lack of infrastructure for local communities.

The results of the FOI requests showed that 80 local authorities – around a third of all those who responded – have returned Section 106 money to developers in the past five years.