Limits of negotiable developer obligations

Abstract

Many local authorities apply public value capture on new developments to cover the costs of additional public services. The development obligations (DO) they apply can be either negotiable (NDO) or non‐negotiable (NNDO). This article examines the limits of NDOs by comparing three national case studies according to the basic principles of proportionality, causality, connection, and lack of transparency for developers. Well‐developed building land models and a delineation of ap-plicable cost types offer more transparency for the developer and enable the municipal authorities to establish a fairer distribution of burdens based on actual benefit.