Over recent years, an increasing proportion of new affordable housing had been secured through Section 106 of the Town and Country Planning Act 1990, which allowed local authorities to seek cash or contributions in kind from developers to mitigate the impact of development. Housebuilders agreed, as part of their planning permission, to provide a proportion of affordable homes on their sites, or to pay for them elsewhere. 

This system closely ties together the provision of market and affordable homes. The downturn in the property market had led to a considerable reduction in the output of market housing. 

This research aimed to analyse the impact on the delivery of affordable housing and to explore local authority responses. It also aimed to explore how local authorities were planning for the future in this unpredictable market and rapidly changing policy context.