The government wants 1,458 new homes a year in Waverley, up from 710. The new Local Plan is not due for adoption until 31 January 2029. What happens now.
Waverley Borough Council is now working to two numbers that do not fit together: a government housing target that has roughly doubled, and a Local Plan that will not be adopted for another two and a half years. Everything else in Farnham planning follows from that gap. This page sets out where the plan actually is, what the council has said about the target, and the two Farnham schemes that matter.
The number
The government’s housing target for Waverley has risen from 710 to 1,458 new homes each year. That is the council’s own wording, published when it opened its latest Call for Sites in September 2025.
For scale, Waverley’s Leader, Councillor Paul Follows, described the increase as putting the borough in an “impossible position”, pointing out that more than 80% of Waverley is Green Belt or part of the Surrey Hills National Landscape. When the revised National Planning Policy Framework first landed in December 2024, the portfolio holder for planning, Councillor Liz Townsend, put the identified need at 1,481 homes a year and called it “two and a half times the current requirement in our Local Plan”, warning it would grow the borough’s population by around 50% over twenty years.
On 2 December 2025, Full Council voted unanimously to write to the Secretary of State asking for five changes: a review of Waverley’s target with flexibility for environmentally constrained areas; protection from the “tilted balance” while the Local Plan is being prepared; stronger safeguards for National Landscapes; recognition of the value of countryside beyond the Green Belt; and realistic phasing tied to guaranteed infrastructure.
The council’s sharpest point in that letter is one that cuts both ways. It is judged on homes built, not homes permitted, and it does not control build-out rates. The borough already holds unimplemented permissions equal to around 5,500 homes, stalled on market conditions and construction costs rather than planning.
Where the Local Plan actually is
The adopted plan is still Local Plan Part 1 (2018) and Local Plan Part 2 (2023). Those remain the statutory development plan until they are replaced.
The replacement is being written for the period 2023 to 2043. An early Issues and Options consultation ran from 27 October to 8 December 2025, and the council published its response on 2 February 2026.
Then, on 2 June 2026, the council agreed a new timetable, which formally replaces the old Local Development Scheme and takes effect from 11 June 2026. It is the most useful document on the subject, because it puts dates on everything:
| Stage | Date |
|---|---|
| Publish timetable and Notice of Intention to commence preparation | 11 June 2026 |
| Scoping consultation | 15 June to 27 July 2026 |
| Gateway 1 | 23 October 2026 |
| Consultation on Proposed Plan Contents and Evidence | 8 February to 22 March 2027 |
| Gateway 2 | 18 October 2027 |
| Consultation on the proposed Local Plan | 6 March to 1 May 2028 |
| Gateway 3 | 3 July 2028 |
| Submit Local Plan for examination | 14 August 2028 |
| Examination recommendations published | 15 January 2029 |
| Adoption of the Local Plan | 31 January 2029 |
What happens in the gap
Three years is a long time to run on a plan written against a target less than half the current one, and the council has said so directly. Its request for protection from the “tilted balance” is a request not to have applications decided in favour of development simply because the plan is out of date.
Two related facts sit alongside it. The council publishes a Housing Delivery Action Plan because its Housing Delivery Test result is below 95%. And the 5,500 unimplemented permissions mean the borough’s shortfall is, at least in part, a building problem rather than a permission problem.
Dunsfold Park is the clearest example
The borough’s single largest allocation is Dunsfold Park, the former aerodrome near Cranleigh. The Secretary of State granted outline permission in March 2018 for 1,800 homes, a school, a community centre and an expanded business park, as the first phase of a wider Local Plan policy for around 2,600 homes. The government awarded it Garden Village status in June 2019.
Eight years on, the council’s own page on the scheme carries a short line under “Site Ownership”: Trinity College has confirmed that they are seeking to dispose of the site to a new owner. The most recent planning entries listed there are non-material amendments and a reserved matters application for landscape and soils, several still marked pending.
Whatever the borough’s target is on paper, the largest thing in its plan is currently for sale.
The two Farnham schemes that matter
Brightwells Yard: finished
The former East Street site in the middle of Farnham is now 239 homes, 25 commercial units, a six-screen Reel Cinema and a multi-storey car park. The council reports the homes as built and mostly occupied, with around 90% sold, and Nando’s, Monte Forte and Pirate’s Landing trading alongside a Pilates studio and a gym. Waverley is due to take over management of the car park from Surrey County Council once final lighting and signage works are done.
For a town arguing about where new homes go, it is worth noting that the largest recent addition to Farnham’s housing stock went on a town-centre brownfield site and is done.
Coxbridge Farm: 320 homes, still moving
Land north of West Street by the A31 Coxbridge roundabout carries permission for 320 homes, of which 96 must be affordable, delivered by Vivid Homes. The land is largely owned by Surrey County Council. Permission was agreed by Waverley in May 2021 against just over 100 objections, and construction was held up for more than two years by a Section 106 agreement complicated by the deaths of the farm’s owners. The approved mix is 41 one-bed, 64 two-bed, 77 three-bed and 42 four-bed homes, with 634 parking spaces, mostly two storeys and up to three where the ground falls away.
It is still generating paperwork. Waverley’s weekly list for the week ending 22 June 2026 records NMA/2026/01092, registered on 18 June 2026, a non-material amendment to the reserved matters approval WA/2025/02087 at Land North of Coxbridge Farm, altering house types and reconfiguring the Block B apartments.
That roundabout is also one of the two junctions Surrey County Council wants to rebuild under its unfunded A31 corridor scheme, which is the infrastructure argument in miniature: the homes are consented, the junction is not.
How to check an application yourself
Waverley is not on the Idox system most Surrey councils use, which is why the usual search links do not work here.
- The planning register is Arcus Planning 360 at planning360.waverley.gov.uk:4443/planning. The port number matters. Drop the :4443 and the same host returns an error for everything, which is why people conclude the register is down when it is not.
- Weekly lists of validated applications are published as PDFs on the council’s weekly lists page. They are organised by parish and ward, so you can read everything registered in Farnham in one go.
- Farnham Town Council is consulted on applications in the town and publishes its own planning pages, which is often the quicker route to what the town has objected to.
Frequently asked questions
How many new homes does Farnham have to build?
Targets are set for the whole borough, not the town. Waverley’s target rose from 710 to 1,458 new homes a year under the revised National Planning Policy Framework. The council says it does not believe it can accommodate that number, given that more than 80% of the borough is Green Belt or Surrey Hills National Landscape.
When will Waverley have a new Local Plan?
31 January 2029, on the timetable the council agreed on 2 June 2026. Before then there are two public consultations, on plan contents and evidence in February and March 2027, and on the proposed plan itself in March and April 2028. Until adoption, Local Plan Part 1 (2018) and Part 2 (2023) remain in force.
Is anything being built at Dunsfold Park?
Not yet. Outline permission for 1,800 homes was granted by the Secretary of State in March 2018 as the first phase of a policy for around 2,600, and the site was given Garden Village status in June 2019. Waverley’s own page now states that Trinity College is seeking to dispose of the site to a new owner.
What is happening at Coxbridge Farm in Farnham?
A consented 320-home scheme, 96 of them affordable, on land north of West Street by the A31 Coxbridge roundabout, on land largely owned by Surrey County Council. A non-material amendment to the reserved matters approval, NMA/2026/01092, was registered on 18 June 2026.
Where do I look up a Farnham planning application?
On Waverley’s Arcus Planning 360 register at planning360.waverley.gov.uk:4443/planning. Include the :4443 port or the site will appear to be down. New applications also appear in the council’s weekly list PDFs, sorted by parish.
Why does the council say it is judged unfairly?
Because it is measured on homes completed rather than homes permitted, and it has no control over when developers build. Waverley says it already holds unimplemented permissions for around 5,500 homes held up by market conditions and construction costs.
Related
- Farnham house prices: what the existing stock is worth, area by area.
- Farnham roadworks, parking and travel: the A31 corridor scheme, and why it is not funded.
- Things to do in Farnham, including what Brightwells Yard actually delivered.
Sources
- Waverley Borough Council, Waverley Borough Council issues latest Call for Sites (12 September 2025) for the rise from 710 to 1,458 homes a year.
- Waverley Borough Council, urging Government to rethink “unrealistic and unsustainable” new housing targets (19 December 2025) for the 2 December Full Council vote, the five asks, the 80% constrained-land figure and the 5,500 unimplemented permissions.
- Waverley Borough Council, Government rejects local concerns over housebuilding targets for Councillor Townsend’s 1,481 figure and the “two and a half times” comparison.
- Waverley Borough Council, Local plan timetable for the timetable agreed on 2 June 2026 and every date in the table above.
- Waverley Local Plan: Issues and Options (2025) consultation for the 2023 to 2043 plan period, the consultation dates and the adopted Part 1 and Part 2 plans.
- Waverley Borough Council, five year housing supply for the Housing Delivery Action Plan and the below-95% Housing Delivery Test result.
- Waverley Borough Council, Dunsfold Park Garden Village for the March 2018 permission, the 1,800 and 2,600 home figures, Garden Village status and the Trinity College disposal.
- Waverley Borough Council, Brightwells Yard in Farnham for the 239 homes, commercial units, cinema and car park.
- Waverley Borough Council weekly list of planning applications, week ending 22 June 2026 (PDF) for application NMA/2026/01092 at Land North of Coxbridge Farm.
- Farnham Herald, Work on 320-home Farnham development to begin after legal hurdle overcome for the Coxbridge Farm housing mix, the 96 affordable homes, Vivid Homes, the parking count and the Section 106 history.
Planning positions change with every committee. Check the register and the council’s own pages before relying on anything here.
Have your say
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