One of our very first posts on this site was about the Section 75 Agreement that Lomond Homes entered into for the development of New Farm Vales. This agreement is usually a binding agreement between the developer and the local authority which lays certain obligations on the developer for the use of the land. The agreement is listed below:

Application Ref: 07/03569/WFULL
ID Number: 781
Applicant/Developer: Lomond homes Ltd, Unit 1 Lomond Business Park, Baltimore Road
Site Address: New Farm Fields site to the west of Lochgelly, Fife
Value of Payment: £300,000.00
Financial Status: Erection of 65 dwellinghouses with associated roads, car parking, open space and associated works.

Agreement that developer undertakes that the Affordable Housing subjects shall only be used for the construction and use thereon of 9 affordable units. These shall be made available for sale to a Registered Landlord for Affordable Housing for a period not less than 3 years after the latter date of this agreement or completion of the 64th private unit within Phase 2B whichever is earlier.

Also 4 Payments due in respect of Education provision and Public Realm. No payment received to date.

First of £50,000 due within 7 days of completion of the 25th private unit within Phase 2B as the 1st Education contribution.

Second of £75,000 due within 7 days of the completion of the 50th private unit within Phase 2b as the 2nd education contribution.

Third of £77,000 within 7 days of the completion of the 64th private unit within Phase 2b as the 3rd education contribution.

Notwithstanding the dates of completion the developer shall in any event have paid the 3 contributions not later than 4 years after the latter date of signing of this Agreement.

Fourth of £98,000 within 7 days of the date of completion of the 64th private unit as the Public Realm Contribution.

Also included in the agreement the developer undertakes the detailed specifications for the Town Park Link shall be mutually agreed by the Council and the Developer in writing both acting fairly and reasonably within 3 months of the last date of agreement. The specification shall include full lighting of the footpath and cycleway and the whole Town Park Link shall be constructed and completed to adoptable standard. Not later than the date of completion of the last residential unit in Phase 2A.

We decided to make a Freedom of Information request to Fife Council to check the status of the Agreement and find out what payments have been made. We asked 3 questions and received the following responses:

  1. How many payments to date and total cost of payments have Lomond Homes made under the Section 75 agreement for the following agreement? (this relates to the total due of £300,000)
    Response: I can confirm that according to my records no payments appear to have been made.
  2. If no payments have been made, when does Fife Council expect the payments to be made?
    Response: I have just received confirmation that 32 completion certificates have now been issued therefore the first trigger of completion of the 25th house appears to have been reached. Arrangements are in place to contact Lomond Homes to make arrangements to pay this instalment. (£50k).
  3. Will Fife Council be enforcing the section 75 agreement through the legal system?
    Response: This would be one of the options open to Fife Council as part of the recovery of any outstanding debts.

So, it has been over a year since we first posted the Section 75 Agreement, and to this date, Lomond Homes have not made any payments, yet they are now due the Lochgelly area £50,000.00. Will Lomond Homes pay this money?

Non-payment of this money will surely lead to Lomond Homes worsening their reputation which has already received much criticism and negativity from other communities for what people consider to be unethical practices.

This is probably now an ideal time for Lomond Homes to try and improve their reputation by making the payments they have agreed to. We will continue to follow this development and report on any new issues as they arise, until all the payments have been made.

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