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Tandridge District Local Plan 2024 - 2044

The government requires every local planning authority to prepare a Local Plan. A Local Plan provides a vision and framework and sets out planning policies for future development. Once adopted, the Local Plan is the key consideration in making all planning decisions. 

We are currently in the process of drawing up a new Local Plan for the district. It will affect where new homes, jobs, schools, surgeries and green spaces will go. We would like your views on shaping it.

The government is committed to building 1.5 million new homes within the course of this parliament and to enable this, it has already introduced a number of planning reforms.

These include:

  • Revising the National Planning Policy Framework (NPPF) to allow areas of Green Belt to be reclassified as grey belt.
  • Bringing in a new standard method for calculating housing need with higher mandatory housing targets.
  • The Green Belt purpose of preventing urban sprawl no longer applies to villages.

The Council’s new Local Plan must be in accordance with the new rules or it will not pass the mandatory examination by a Planning Inspector. The government also expect every local planning authority to have an up to date Local Plan in place as soon as possible to help meet their commitment to building 1.5 million homes nationally by the end of the parliament.

Have your say

Over the coming months, we’ll be asking for your views on:

  • What matters most to you in your neighbourhood.
  • Where new development and services should go.
  • How we can best balance environmental, social and economic factors.

We’ll share updates and create ways for you to get involved. Whether you’re a resident, key worker, business owner or student - your voice matters.

The best way to keep up to date is to sign up for our newsletters, especially the Local Plan newsletter.

Explore the sections below to learn more about the Tandridge District Local Plan 2024-2044:

Following the withdrawal of Our Local Plan 2033, it was agreed at Full Council on 18 April 2024, that the Council will start work on a new Local Plan.  Since this time, the government has introduced a number of reforms to the planning system and during December 2024, published an update to the National Planning Policy Framework (NPPF). 

The Tandridge Local Plan will be produced under the new system, as set out in the Levelling Up and Regeneration Act (2023), which intends to streamline Local Plan production to 30 months. The latest Local Development Scheme sets out the timetable to meet this requirement. 

The work the Council has carried out so far for the new Local Plan is still appropriate to use. This includes consultation and adoption of the Council’s Statement of Community Involvement and the ongoing Call for Sites process. 

We have also started work on the various workstreams involved with the plan-making process, including updating the evidence base.

We are required to produce a Local Development Scheme outlining the timeline for adoption of the Tandridge District Local Plan 2024-2044. This was approved at the Planning Policy Committee. 

The Tandridge District Local Plan 2024-2044 will be underpinned by a range of evidence base documents.

  • February 2025: The 2025 Local Development Scheme was approved at Planning Policy Committee and outlines the new timeline for the emerging Local Plan.
  • February 2025: The Housing and Economic Land Availability Assessment Methodology was approved for use at Planning Policy Committee and will be used to identify sites and broad locations with potential for development; assess their development potential; assess their suitability for development and the likelihood of development coming forward. 
  • February 2025: A Gypsy and Traveller Pitch Delivery Assessment   is currently being carried out by consultants to determine the level of need/supply at existing traveller sites within the district.
  • September 2024: A Gypsy and Traveller Accommodation Assessment providing a robust assessment of current and future need for Gypsy, Traveller and Travelling Showpeople accommodation in the District has been commissioned and currently being finalised by the consultants to align with the updated policy in the NPPF (2024) and Planning Policy for Traveller Sites (2024). 

Apart from being a government requirement, it is very important for Tandridge District to have an up to date Local Plan because it allows more local control over development and avoids costly planning appeals.

Without an up to date Plan, the district is vulnerable to development proposals, particularly housing, that may not align with local needs or priorities. If the Council refuses an unsuitable development it is likely to be challenged, resulting in planning by appeal on speculative applications that are inappropriate development and do not deliver much needed infrastructure. This is happening at the moment.

The government sets the target for how many homes each council should plan for.

  • Our district’s target is currently 993 dwelling per year. This compares with the figure set in the current Local Plan (2008 Core Strategy) of 125 dwellings per year.
  • It will be very difficult to achieve the annual target of 933 given the constraints there are in Tandridge District.
  • The district is 94% Green Belt, the highest in the country, with two National Landscapes, Surrey Hills and the High Weald. In addition, there are significant flooding and infrastructure constraints.
  • The new Local Plan needs to balance these factors with the need for new housing, the need for new infrastructure and the need for new economic growth.

It is a difficult balance to achieve and we would like your help to get it right.

As throughout the south east of England, there is a need for more affordable housing in the district. A Local Plan allows us to set affordable housing policies and to specify a percentage of affordable housing which developers must include in new developments. This should help provide more housing for key workers such as nurses and teachers and also help local businesses which need staff who can afford to live nearby.

However, the price of affordable housing is still usually 80% of the full market price. Therefore, as part of the Council’s commitment to providing affordable housing, we are continuing to build new council houses and aiming to provide a wider choice of tenure, type and size of housing.

The Local Plan also plans for business and retail space, schools, GP surgeries and transport links.

The Local Plan should also protect the environment and character of the district and the Council is very committed to doing this. However, it can only be done within the limits of government policy.

The preferred location for new development will always be on brownfield land. Brownfield land is land that has been built on before and is now available for redevelopment. Tandridge District, however, does not have nearly enough available brownfield land to meet the government’s set target of 993 dwellings per year.

Government policy means the Council now has to review its Green Belt boundaries. A review was carried out for the previous attempt at a Local Plan in 2019 which subsequently had to be withdrawn because the government Planning Inspector was not satisfied with it. The recent policy changes mean we are required to review the Green Belt again with a view to identifying areas of grey belt that can be released for development.

The grey belt policy was introduced by the government in December 2024 and followed by guidance on how grey belt land should be assessed and identified. The grey belt policy introduces a new category within Green Belt land, specifically targeting previously developed land (brownfield land) or underperforming Green Belt areas for potential development.

Green Belt in Tandridge is acknowledged by the Council as being a finite and precious resource that has shaped the character of our area. However, the Government’s drive for housing and related changes to national planning policy leaves us with no option but to assess whether any areas in the Green Belt could be considered for development in the Local Plan. This review is underway, and the results will be shared with you for your views.

On 28 October 2025, the government confirmed plans to reorganise local councils in Surrey. The current two tier system where services are split between Surrey County Council and district or borough councils, will be replaced by two new unitary councils - East Surrey Council and West Surrey Council.

East Surrey Council will cover Elmbridge, Epsom & Ewell, Mole Valley, Reigate & Banstead and Tandridge District managing all local services, including housing, planning, waste, education, roads and social care.

For more information about local government reorganisation, please visit our web page.

Related content
Adopted development plan
Policies and guidance
Emerging policies
Tandridge District Local Plan 2024 - 2044
Neighbourhood planning
Community Infrastructure Levy
Evidence base
Monitoring
Brownfield land register
Self and custom build
Housing and Economic Land availability Assessment (HELAA)
Consultation
Planning Data
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