More than £100,000 has been handed back to developers because Greenwich Council did not spend it in time, it has been revealed.

Councils can make cash under a section of planning law which requires developers to stump up money if they get planning permission.

The law, known as section 106, means authorities can get money for infrastructure and other local projects if a big development is given the go-ahead.

The money is “ringfenced” for certain projects and has to be spent within a time period which is usually about five years.

Greenwich Council has had to give back £117,595 in the last five years because it had not been spent or allotted in the agreed time.

In the same period, the council has received £39.4m in section 106 obligations but has so far only spent £16m of it.

Despite the rest of the cash being allocated to specific projects, £23.3m remains unspent by the council.

A council spokesman denied it was simply sitting on unused cash.

The spokesman said: “The council is not ‘sitting’ on the money – almost £24m is currently allocated for a variety of uses including affordable housing, transport infrastructure and improving the public realm in our town centres.

“However, the money is not spent in the same year that it is received due to the timescales involved in planning and delivering major projects.

“We work very hard to ensure the section 106 money is spent on projects within the timeframes set out in the agreements. In rare occasions, the money is not spent in the timeframe set and is sent back to the developers.

“From 2013 to 2016, less than a quarter of one per cent of the total section 106 money received was returned to the developers.”

On average since 2013, the council has made £7.8m a year from developers, but only spent £3.2m of it.

The data was revealed following a freedom of information request asking the council how much s106 money has been received, unspent and unallocated and handed back since 2013.

The National Housing Federation, an affordable housing campaign group, said s106 money must be used to make a difference.

Duncan Neish, policy officer at the federation, said previously: “Section 106 funding is one of the most important ways of delivering new affordable homes, so it is important that it is used effectively.

“It should be allocated as fully as possible, with a focus on investing it in ways that will make a big difference for local people, including by building desperately-needed affordable housing.”