In November this year, a roundtable took place to look at the delivery of affordable housing in Surrey. It was attended by over 30 representatives from registered social housing providers, developers and senior local authority representatives drawn from across the county. ย
The session was chaired by Brian Horton of Horton Strategic Ltd, with presentations from Cllr Sinead Mooney, Surrey County Council Cabinet Member for Adult Social Care, and Lydia McLaren from Savills.
The roundtable highlighted the pressing housing crisis in Surrey. Currently median house prices in the county are 11.9 times the median resident earnings, making homeownership increasingly unattainable for many. The South East has seen a 7% decrease in homes gaining planning consent and an 18% decrease in new home starts as of Q3 2024. Savills estimates there is a sub-market housing need of 187,000 homes per year across England, but many areas in Surrey are delivering less than 20% of their affordable housing need. Some districts have reported no affordable housing completions at all in the last six months.
During the session, representatives from both registered social housing providers and developers gave their views on the current process of delivering affordable housing. Both groups highlighted multiple areas where systemic change is required to enable them to deliver the volume of affordable homes that will be required to meet the countyโs current and future requirements.
Conclusion
The roundtable was a highly engaged session that increased understanding of the challenges faced by different organisations in Surrey and beyond. The session ended with a unanimous call for a follow-up roundtable where attendees could come together again to work towards finding actionable strategies to meet the region’s affordable housing needs.
Organisations taking part in the Roundtable
- Accent Housing Group
- Aster Group
- Bellway
- Barratt David Wilson Homes
- DHA Planning
- English Rural Housing Association
- Guildford Borough Council
- Homes England
- Horton Strategic Limited
- Hyde Housing
- Irwin Mitchell Solicitors
- Kier
- Mole Valley District Council
- Raven Housing Trust
- Reigate & Banstead Borough Council
- Savills
- Spelthorne Borough Council
- Surrey County Council
- Surrey Heath Borough Council
- Tandridge District Council
- Transform Housing & Support
- Vivid Homes
- Wates
- Whitmore Vale Housing Association
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